Decanted wine tastes better overnight...

[crushday]

Last night I opened and decanted a bottle of 2017 Chilean Malbec. It was amazing. Because I didn't finish the bottle, having only 2 glasses, I had the other two glasses tonight. Wow, it's AMAZING.

Question: Does anyone know how many months or years in bottle are equivalent to sitting in a decanter overnight? The oxygen effect overnight in a decanter must have some comparison to a wine under cork in a bottle allowing only the microest (just created a word) amount of oxygen over time.

A couple of variables I can think of right now that limit arriving at an exact answer:

1. Size and quality of cork
2. SO2 levels at the time of bottling
3. Actual cellaring conditions
4. Tannin level

Is there any agreement to assuming that one night decanted is equivalent to one year in a cellar?

**If this has already been exhaustively explored, sorry. I searched the archives and found nothing more than a solicitation of my same question.**

 

[CDrew]

I think there just are some wines that "open up" overnight. It's difficult to quantify, but some wines (overnight on full vacuum) improve. Some, do not. I do know that my syrah improves with an oxygenating decanter, and improves further after a night of being open, but stored under vacuum. But it's still pretty young and in time, I hope its perfect out of the bottle.

I think that the more tannic the wine, the more likely it is to improve with oxygen exposure. That's a guess.

 

[Boatboy24]

I have wines that "open up", and I also have some that are at their best within an hour or two of opening, but start to go downhill fast. I have no explanation. Some are young, some are old. Some are highly tannic, some are light.

 

[Ajmassa]

I remember @ibglowin posted some rough guideline relating to this a while back.
I forget the specifics but recall it was based on an uncorked half full bottle on the counter at room temp rather than decanter or under VacuVin. . Coulda definitely been the 1st day = 1 year but scaled up 3days =5yrs maybe. Can’t be sure. But then again it wasn’t a hard fast rule or anything. Obviously it’s all just educated guessing but does offer an interesting glimpse into the wine’s future.

 

[ibglowin]

Too many post ago for me to recall specifics at the moment. I know most every one of my wines I have popped a cork on and snuck a glass before dinner, then stuck a cork in it and left it in the winery for a day or two were actually way better than the first pour on the first night. That small amount of trapped air seemed to be just enough to open it up to perfection. I have had wines mostly inexpensive commercial that I have done this with and on the subsequent night they just fell apart. Flat, lifeless and undrinkable almost. To me this ability to actually improve day to day as you drink a glass gives a good view into how the wine will hold up with age. How it will improve over time. If you haven't tried it yet I recommend it. Take notes in your winemaking notebook so you can look back on them someday.

 

[crushday]

Take notes in your winemaking notebook so you can look back on them someday.

Stellar advice!

 

[NorCal]

I listened to a podcast of a Somm at a restaurant that will open a bottle have a glass, wait a day have another glass and then one more two days after opening. He does this to find out which wines he can serve by the glass and which ones are good, if not better two days later. His experience is like the above, it very much depends on the wine. Some hold up, others don’t.

 

[sour_grapes]

I listened to a podcast of a Somm at a restaurant that will open a bottle have a glass, wait a day have another glass and then one more two days after opening. He does this to find out which wines he can serve by the glass and which ones are good, if not better two days later. His experience is like the above, it very much depends on the wine. Some hold up, others don’t.

Now that I have read that, that is such an obvious thing for a restaurant to do! But I bet few do. (I have no way of justifying that bet, I realize though.)

At a restaurant, I often order (by the glass) what I think is commonly ordered, rather than the off-beat wine that sounds good to me to try. I have gotten too many oxidized glasses the latter way.

As you may recall, I have tried storing some wines that were not meant to be laid down for long periods. Some of these oxidize very quickly, are very oxidized the next day. Now, when I open one of these, I give a spritz from my k-meta spray bottle into it before shoving the cork back in! An ounce of prevention and all that....