When making wine at the Wine Bottega it is preferable that the wine be allowed to mature for a period of 6 to 12 months before drinking. However, this is not always the case as many will start to drink their wine within weeks or a couple of months after bottling. These young wines can however benefit from decanting. The action of decanting itself, and the large surface area in contact with the air in the decanter, alters the wine, softening its youthful bite and encouraging the development of the more complex aromas that normally develop with years in bottle.

On the other hand, some wines that are high in tartaric acid ( a sign of a good quality grape) may produce a fallout known as tartrate crystals or 'wine diamonds'. Although these wine diamonds do not in any way alter the taste of the wines, they are displeasing to the eye and in this case would deserve decanting to separate the wine from the diamonds.

If you are decanting a young wine to simply to aerate and liven it up a little, simply pour the wine into any suitable decanter/carafe with minimal fuss.

If you are decanting a wine in order to remove it from its wine diamonds then consider the following procedure.

• If there is a considerable amount of wine diamonds it's advisable to stand the bottle upright for a day or so prior to decanting, allowing the diamonds to fall to the bottom of the bottle.
• Once settled to the bottom, remove the entire shrink cap from around the neck of the bottle. It's important to remove the whole cap, and not just the top, as you need to have a clear view into the neck of the bottle so that you can observe the wine coming through the neck.
• Hold the decanter in one hand and the bottle in the other, and with a smooth and steady action, pour the wine into the decanter. Don't rush when decanting, use a gentle, steady movement to avoid disturbing the diamonds in the wine.
• When you see the diamonds moving into the neck of the bottle that is when you stop pouring.
• It's now when you have a clear wine for serving from your decanter.