TWAIOA and decanting.

[Mike J. W.]

I have taken to decanting my TWAIOA (as well as Colheitas) because I find that after a day in the decanter with a little air, they drink much better (for my taste at least). Does anyone else do this or are you all pretty much pouring a glass straight from the bottle?

[Glenn E.]

For me it depends. Some brands taste better (to me) if I give them some air, while others are great straight out of the bottle.

It also depends on bottle age... if they get up around 8+ years in bottle it usually seems to help to give them an hour to open up again.

[Andy Velebil]

If in bottle a long time decanting can help a little. But otherwise, IME, it’s really hit and miss if decanting helps or not and I’ve never found a rhyme or reason to why that is.

[Will W.]

I have taken to decanting my TWAIOA (as well as Colheitas) because I find that after a day in the decanter with a little air, they drink much better (for my taste at least). Does anyone else do this or are you all pretty much pouring a glass straight from the bottle?

There is no definitive answer, as noted already by others, though I would reiterate that it depends on the time in bottle and the producer. I would add that it is also a question of your personal preference with respect to acidity levels. If the wine was bottled a year or two prior to opening, then there should be no appreciable difference between a pop-and-pour approach and decanting for a short period of time. Where the wine has been in the bottle for, say, three to eight years, then an hour or two of decanting time prior to an initial snort is advisable. Beyond eight or ten years in the bottle, one is left to experiment, which I appreciate is less than ideal where one is hosting others to something unique - an older colheita with a lot of bottle time, most especially - and planning backwards from a planned serving time commensurate with the wider programme of conviviality.

Take, for instance, older Niepoort colheitas bottled in the 1970s, which are ubiquitous, albeit not inexpensive, on the European secondary market.
With respect to this producer, there would appear to be consensus for the most part at this and like forums that the Niepoorts will survive decades in the bottle; that is, that the acidity is not, in the main, lost to the point of imbalance after even thirty and forty years or more. What I have found, however, is that whereas the old (e.g., pre-1945) Niepoorts are stellar after an hour or three in the decanter, by the time one gets serious about throwing back the contents after, for instance, five or six hours, the metaphorical wheels have fallen off. Principally, the nose is shot and the mouth somewhat muted. I raised this point of confusion and frustration last autumn with Al B. and he presented an experimental theory which holds that the decanting regime might best involve - if memory serves (Alex?) - twenty-four hours in the decanter for every decade of bottle time. Again, if my memory is correct, Alex informed me that such an approach is taken to the decanting of old madeira. I have not had a chance since that wonderful chat to put this theory into practice, though it is my intention to do so in a context which poses no risks to guests (i.e., to decant something old and start sampling it myself over a prolonged period).

Finally, one needs to be conscious of the style of a given producer when buying TWAIOA and colheitas which have been in the bottle for a decade and more. The rule of thumb here, at least as I apply it to myself, is to be cognisant of the style of the producer; that is, to recall whether a given house favours high levels of acidity or a more gentle approach during the wine-making process. Personally, I am partial to high - even searing - levels of acidity in tawnies and, as such, will avoid purchasing TWAIOA and colheitas produced by houses more favourable to palates other than my own, most especially where the wine has been in the bottle for more than a handful of years. However, I do appreciate that whereas I might regard a tawny as imbalanced after, by way of example, twenty years in a bottle, the same wine might strike another collector as being entirely in tune.

[Moses Botbol]

We normally decant tawny or colheita purely for the circumstance of using one of our 19th century decanters & silver decanter coasters.

Makes the Maynard's seem a little fancier.

[Glenn E.]

Take, for instance, older Niepoort colheitas bottled in the 1970s, which are ubiquitous, albeit not inexpensive, on the European secondary market.
With respect to this producer, there would appear to be consensus for the most part at this and like forums that the Niepoorts will survive decades in the bottle; that is, that the acidity is not, in the main, lost to the point of imbalance after even thirty and forty years or more. What I have found, however, is that whereas the old (e.g., pre-1945) Niepoorts are stellar after an hour or three in the decanter, by the time one gets serious about throwing back the contents after, for instance, five or six hours, the metaphorical wheels have fallen off. Principally, the nose is shot and the mouth somewhat muted. I raised this point of confusion and frustration last autumn with Al B. and he presented an experimental theory which holds that the decanting regime might best involve - if memory serves (Alex?) - twenty-four hours in the decanter for every decade of bottle time. Again, if my memory is correct, Alex informed me that such an approach is taken to the decanting of old madeira.

This matches my experience with very-long-in-bottle tawnies as well. They seem to need some few hours in decanter to open up and show at their best, but the decline that follows can be a sharp cliff. It seems to me that these are often best opened about an hour before the start of a tasting, then tasted repeatedly over time rather than at an "assigned moment" during the tasting. That gives you the best chance to experience the Port at its best, and also helps you notice the start of the decline so that you can finish up if desired.

I would not implement a Madeira-style decanting regimen for old tawny Port. Madeira is nearly indestructible so the "one day per decade in bottle" decanting regimen is a pretty safe rule of thumb. Old tawny Ports are not nearly as robust so I fear that you would miss their best showing in most cases.