When and how to decant wine

There’s still a general idea that red wines - especially traditional red wines like Bordeaux - need to be decanted but that’s rarely the case these days. Most wines are made to be drunk straightaway. It’s only when one of the following conditions applies that you need to get out a decanter

When the wine has thrown a deposit

That could be a wine that has aged in the bottle, like vintage or crusted port or an unfiltered wine that has again been kept a few years and thrown a sediment

When it’s young and the oak hasn’t quite integrated with the fruit

Nowadays we drink wine much sooner than we used to which may result in a young wine still tasting excessively oaky. A way to counteract that is to ‘double decant’ it - i.e. pour it from the bottle into another container such as a jug then pour it back into the bottle. Letting the air get into it helps to smooth it out

That applies to rich whites as well as reds though it inevitably raises the temperature of the wine. No bad thing in my opinion with wines like white burgundy though some people prefer to drink their whites colder

When it’s a natural wine and smells a bit funky

Wines that are made without or with only a minimum amount of sulphur added can smell a bit funky on opening. Letting the air get to them by double decanting them can freshen them up and get rid of the ‘bottle stink’.

How to decant a wine

When there’s a deposit involved you need to be careful not to mix the sediment up with rest of the wine so make sure you keep it upright for at least 24 hours before you plan to serve it.

Remove the cork trying not to shake up the wine again and wipe the neck of the bottle clean Then place a light source like a lighted candle or upended torch behind the neck of the bottle and pour carefully and steadily into a clean decanter in a single movement without letting the liquid fall back into the dregs. Watch the sediment like a hawk as it inches towards the neck then stop immediately even if you have half a glass left in the bottle.

You should do this 1-2 hours before you plan to serve it - slightly less if the wine is mature (around 12-20 years old)

Older wines

If a wine is really old and fragile - say 20 years old or more - it may be better not to decant it. Leave it upright as described above then pour a small amount into a glass and taste it. If you feel it’s fading don’t decant just pour carefully into each glass.

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How long does wine keep?

The question I get asked most often as a wine writer is how long you should keep a bottle of wine. It’s one of those ‘How long is a piece of string?’ questions: it depends both on the bottle and the drinker.

Some people relish mature wines that have acquired complex aromas and flavours. Others would much rather drink wines while their fruit is at its most vibrant and intense.

In general bottles under £7, especially whites and rosés, are not worth hanging on to for more than a couple of months. Most wines these days are designed for immediate consumption. “We always worked on the assumption that every bottle people bought would be drunk the same day” former supermarket wine buyer Angela Mount told me. “Certainly most will be consumed in the week”

Red wines that are worth ageing

Wines that are traditionally held to benefit from ageing are red wines matured in oak such as red Bordeaux, Burgundy and Barolo, the theory being they need time for any harsh tannins to soften. But that isn’t invariably the case. Even Bordeaux is made in a fruitier style designed for early drinking. Unless you’re buying expensive wines you’d want to drink most within 3-5 years, depending on the vintage. (Good Bordeaux vintages such as 2010 and 2015 have more staying power than lesser ones such as 2013.)

It also depends how old a wine is when you buy it. Some wines - such as Rioja reservas and gran reservas - are aged by the producer before their release so there is little point in hanging on to them for any length of time.

On the other hand full-bodied new world red wines like Australian shiraz or Californian Cabernet Sauvignon can benefit from keeping for 5-7 years as they retain their vibrant fruitiness for a surprisingly long time.

Storing wine

The conditions under which you keep your wine will also affect a wine’s longevity. If you store your wine in a wine rack in the kitchen exposed to heat and light it obviously won’t stay fresh as long as wine that is kept in an underground or temperature controlled cellar but not many of us have those.

How long should you keep white wines?

Of course it’s not just red wines that are worth holding on to. Aromatic white wines such as riesling and Hunter Valley semillon become more complex with age though not everyone enjoys the slightly oily kerosene notes that they develop. Loire chenin blancs such as Vouvray can gain a lovely honeyed character but again that’s not for everyone.

A good white burgundy will improve for 2-5 years but after that can lose its freshness. Chablis, even basic Chablis, has a bit more staying power. (2014, at the time of writing, is a good year for both)

Sweet wines such as Sauternes and Alsace gewürztraminers also age well (about 4-8 years, depending on the size of the bottle*) while fortified wines, such as port and madeira, are famously long-lived though again most are aged before they’re released and designed to be drunk soon after they’re bought.

All in all you’re more likely to be disappointed by holding onto a wine too long than by drinking it too soon so if in doubt drink it up!

* half bottles age more rapidly than magnums

A version of this article was first published in BBC Homes & Antiques

A beginner's guide to pairing food and wine

You know your interest in wine has entered the next level when you start to wonder what food goes with the wine you’re drinking. So I thought it might be helpful to put together this beginner's guide, covering the basics of pairing wine with food.

You’ll be pleased to hear a lot of it is common sense. You would probably no more think of drinking a crisp pinot grigio with a hearty beef stew or a full-bodied malbec with a delicate crab salad than I would but some matches are not so obvious. Do you always need to drink red wine with meat and white wine with fish, for example? Not these days, you don’t.

5 things you need to know about food and wine pairing

It’s not about the basic ingredient but the way you cook it.

Think of chicken for a start. There’s a world of difference between chicken in a creamy mushroom sauce, a coq au vin and a Thai green chicken curry. I’d match the creaminess of the mushroom sauce with a smooth dry white like chenin blanc or chardonnay, a coq au vin with a similar wine to the one you use to cook it with (traditionally red burgundy) and a Thai curry with an aromatic white wine like a pinot gris or a riesling.

The same applies to ingredients like salmon and pasta (it’s all about the sauce, not the pasta shape).

Wines to pair with different pasta sauces

Is it a light dish or a more intensely flavoured one?

This is more useful than is it fish or meat? Fish can be quite robustly cooked - in a fish stew or on a grill for example. Meat dishes, like steak tartare, can be quite light. So it’s more a question of pairing light-bodied wines with raw or lightly cooked dishes and full-bodied wines with more intensely flavoured ones like roast or grilled food. So you can - and should - get away with pairing a seared tuna steak with a red. Try these other opportunities to drink red wine with fish.

What else is on the plate or the table?

An ingredient rarely appears on its own. We’ve dealt with sauces but there are also vegetables and salads to consider. An strongly flavoured side such as roast peppers or red cabbage can affect your pairing. If you’re serving an older, more fragile wine it’s best to keep things simple.

And many meals now - not only ethnic meals - consist of several different courses. Small plates tend to arrive at the same time - what are you to drink with them? (Versatile wines you might want to look out for are Austria’s grüner veltliner and Hungary’s furmint (both white), Provencal rosé and lighter reds such as beaujolais and pinot noir).

Is there a tried and tested combination?

A terroir-based pairing, if you like. They say ‘if it grows together it goes together and that applies just as much to wine - and beer - as it does to food. (Think basil and tomatoes) Oysters and muscadet (or Picpoul), goats cheese and Sancerre, fino sherry and tapas - those combinations you come across on holiday. There’s a lot to be said for the dictum ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it'.

Wines need to be sweeter than the dessert they accompany

If they’re not it strips out the sweetness of the wine leaving it tasting sharp and sour. (Which is why chocolate desserts can be tricky with light sweet wines like Sauternes). If you want to serve a dessert wine it’s safer to pick a simple dessert like an apple or apricot tart or a creamy panna cotta

Still have questions? Enter your ingredient or dish in the search box or email me at fiona AT matchingfoodandwine DOT com if you can’t find the answer!

Photo ©kucherav at fotolia.com

How to pair wine with fish

Advertisement feature Fish can be cooked so many different ways these days that you may wonder what kind of wine you should pair with it.

So where do you start? The commonly accepted theory is that you should drink white wine with fish but of course there’s more than one style of white wine.

In general a dry white wine suits the delicate flavour of simply cooked fish, Wines that come from coastal areas such as Muscadet, Picpoul de Pinet and albarino generally do the job admirably. So does sauvignon blanc though you may have a preference for a more classic style such as Sancerre or Pouilly Fumé rather than a more aromatic one if you’re serving your fish simply.

If your fish is cooked in butter or in a creamy sauce that could steer you more in the direction of a smooth subtly oaked white like chardonnay while south-east Asian flavours like lime, coriander and chilli often benefit from an aromatic white with a touch of sweetness like riesling or pinot gris.

It’s also a question of price and occasion, isn’t it? If you’re having a fish taco any nice crisp white wine will do whereas if you’re treating yourself to a lobster or Dover sole it’s worth splashing out on a more elegant white that will really show it off

Without over-complicating matters here’s what to think about when you’re matching wine and fish

How the fish is cooked . . .

Is it simply grilled or pan-fried?

It’s all about the flavour of the fish. A fresh, unoaked dry white wine such as a picpoul or albarino will really work well with this - you should be aiming for a wine that tastes like a squeeze of lemon. For fine flat fish like brill, sole or plaice make that a Chablis or an English chardonnay

Is it deep fried? Like calamari or fish and chips?

Fizz every time for me - cava or crémant if the budget’s a bit tight, English sparkling wine or champagne if you feel like splashing out. Sauvignon blancs are good too as is English Bacchus.

Is it cooked in a creamy sauce or in a fish pie?

Creamy sauces LOVE creamy wines like chardonnay and chenin blanc

Is it a soup or a stew?

For this you may be using a cheaper fish like gurnard, pollack or whiting so it’s likely to be more about other flavours in the dish, often tomatoey. Back to dry whites like picpoul again though rosé can work well too

Are you cooking it on the barbecue?

That immediately adds a level of char that ramps up the flavour especially if you pair it with a salsa. Think zesty whites such as New Zealand sauvignon blanc or Rueda or even a chilled red.

. . . or not cooked

Raw fish preparations like ceviche and tartares are increasingly popular. With sushi or sashimi I’d be going for a super-dry white again (Getting the picture? Crisp unoaked whites are a pretty safe bet!)

If we’re simply talking cold rather than hot like a fish salad or seafood cocktail, dry riesling often works really well especially if there’s a touch of spice involved. That’s true of smoked fish like smoked trout too.

What type of fish - or shellfish - it is

So the WAY a fish is cooked is obviously going to make the biggest difference but some fish and shellfish have a particularly strong character that might influence your choice of wine

‘Meaty’ fish - like hake, turbot or monkfish need fuller bodied whites like oaked white rioja, white Côtes du Rhône, Cape white blends from South Africa or even a light red

‘Oily’ fish - you know, the kind that’s good for you! Like mackerel, sardines and sprats pair well with sharp lemony whites. (Try Greek assyrtiko!)

‘Posh’ shellfish like lobster and scallops also need a rich white like a good burgundy or other creamy chardonnay. With more delicate white crab meat I’d go for a sauvignon blanc or a riesling. Brown crab meat again is much richer - think chardonnay or even champagne in the case of Nigella’s crab mac’n’cheese. (You haven’t made that? You SHOULD!)

Can you drink red wine with fish?

You absolutely can, as I’ve already indicated. With ‘meaty’ fish like monkfish. With robust stews, especially those cooked with red wine or with beans, as the Spanish do with hake for example With fish that’s blackened or on the barbecue. Better still if you chill your red lightly. Try it!

What country the dish comes from

Sometimes you should let the other flavours in the dish or the place it comes from be your guide. So if it’s from a place that has a wine culture like France, Spain or Italy think to yourself what would the locals drink? Muscadet with moules frites for example or dry Italian whites like vermentino with spaghetti vongole.

if it’s a curry or other spicy dish you need to pay more attention to the spicing than the type of fish. Austrian grüner veltliner is a good all-rounder as is, you may be surprised to learn, a fruity rosé (with Thai green curry at least). And a dry rosé is good with Moroccan chermoula spicing too.

So just as you’re probably prepared to cook fish more adventurously than you used to don’t be afraid to drink more adventurously too!

This post was sponsored by Fish for Thought who deliver super-fresh seafood nationwide in 100% recyclable boxes direct from Cornwall.

“We are constantly working with the Marine Conservation Society and the Wildlife Trust’s Cornwall Good Seafood Guide to ensure we only sell species that can be genuinely sustainably caught. We ask to be judged on what we refuse to sell - particularly vulnerable species like tuna, ray, John Dory and swordfish, as much as for the sustainability and flavour of what we do sell. You can read more about us here.”

Image by Natalia Klenova at shutterstock.com