Give your wine a breath of fresh air with these party-ready carafes and decanting vessels.
For most meals or casual evenings at home, pouring wine directly from the bottle suffices while having a glass or two. But for dinner parties, brunches, and cocktail attire-worthy soirees, serving wine in a decanter, usually made of glass or crystal, can give your best bottles an added boost of flavor and drinkability. While bottled wine is already sealed inside glass and behind a cork or a screw top until it’s meant to be enjoyed, giving wines (especially older or tannic reds) a breath of fresh air by pouring into a glass decanter or carafe can bring it to life.
Here are the reasons you should decant wine, according to Food & Wine Executive Wine Editor Ray Isle:
- It’s old. Older wines tend to have sediment accumulated at the bottom of the bottle. Pour these wines slowly into a decanter and you’ll avoid getting those gunky bits in your glass when you serve it. Plus, many decanters have a bulbous lower half and skinnier neck that further keeps floaters from creeping out.
- It needs oxygen. To get the fullest expression “as the wine interacts with air, the aromas come out, the flavors blossom, it makes the wine more delicious,” Isle says. Use a confident, heavy-flow pour to expose as much of your wine to the air as possible, as it travels from bottle to decanter.
While any clean vessel you can pour a whole bottle of wine into will work for the purposes of getting it properly aerated, here are nine super stylish containers designed for the job:
RBT Wine Decanter
This decanting kit adds glints of gold the table thanks to a gold-colored stainless steel aeration funnel and banded acacia wood coaster.
RBT Wine Decanter — $100 on williams-sonoma.com
Crescendo Carafe 48-ounce Decanter
This organically-shaped carafe features a cutout that's as practical for holding and pouring as it is pleasing to the eye.
Crescendo Carafe 48-ounce Decanter — $30 on wayfair.com
Seneca Faceted 64-ounce Decanter
The clean lines and flat facets of this decanter will fit in with any modern or industrial tablescape.
Seneca Faceted 64-ounce Decanter — $39 on wayfair.com
Sagaform White Wine Decanter
For less of a footprint, this tall decanter is sleek and simple.
Sagaform White Wine Decanter — $30 on nordstrom.com
Irving Cut Glass Decanter with Wood Stopper
If your aesthetic is for funky as much as functional, the etched banding on this decanter gives it a hip — or dare we say hipster — vibe.
Irving Cut Glass Decanter with Wood Stopper — $50 on crateandbarrel.com
Waterford Elegance Carafe
This otherwise standard decanter breaks up its smooth silhouette with two metallic bands for a bit of character.
Waterford Elegance Carafe — $195 on bloomingdales.com
Baccarat Chateau Decanter
This crystal decanter is deceptively simple but makes a beautiful statement piece with its unique shape.
Baccarat Chateau Decanter — $575 on bloomingdales.com
Vera Wang Wedgwood Bande Wine Decanter
Leave it to Vera Wang to design this elegant decanter with a cylindrical base and single etched ring that begs to be your next wedding gift.
Vera Wang Wedgwood Bande Wine Decanter — $105 on bloomingdales.com
Frost Wine Decanter
This droplet-shaped decanter is topped off by a frosted glass sphere stopper for an added element of interest.
Frost Wine Decanter — $35 on cb2.com
