Overview
You might have heard that to enjoy wine to its full potential, and you need to serve it in a carafe and not from the bottle. Very correct. You don’t want your precious wine trapped in a bottle ever since it has been made. You should relieve your wine of stress by serving it in a carafe so it can oxygenize and aerate.
Wine carafes have a long body and a small bottom to allow large volumes of wine but take less space on the table.
There’s a common mistake everyone makes in the differentiation between wine carafes to decanters. People use Carafe to aerate and serve wine, they have a small base, and they don’t have a stopper.
While they use decanters to decant(remove sediments) from wine without aeration, they are shaped in different designs to glam up your home.
However, we can use carafes to decant wine, but they’re mostly used to aerate wine
Mature Red Wine Carafe
Your old red wine has been in the bottle for years, and it’s time to serve it. It needs to be intact when served. To achieve this, pour the wine slowly from the bottle to the Carafe in a steady motion. You’ll remove sediments with this method, and the wine will taste as fresh as new.
Please note that the most recommended Carafe for mature red wines should have a narrow base and a thin neck to reduce oxidation. Mature old wines don’t need a lot of aeration. Decanting will be fine.
White Wine Carafe
A little aeration to your white wine can be very refreshing as it retains its aromatic purity. That’s why you need a carafe for your white wine.
Here’s a little secret, pour the wine into the Carafe and let it stay in it at least for 30 minutes to an hour before serving.
The recommended Carafe for white wines should also have a narrow base.
Carafe for Young Red Wine
The best young red wines need many years to blossom and completely develop—using a carafe accelerates maturity progress. There are different aromas of red fruits common to red wine—the aroma also smells along with undergrowth.
The woody scents of the undergrowth blend with the floral fragrance peacefully. When you create this combination, the acidity common in most young wines disappears. The most recommended Carafe for young wines must expose the wine to a lot of oxygen: it will come with a wide base, flat shape if possible, an aerator. Depending on the wine’s age, transfer it into a carafe two to three hours before serving.
The younger the wine, the more time it will need to get oxygen for refreshment.
The floral and spicy fragrances are revealed, the woody notes blend in the harmony of scents. It creates the balance, then the acidity, typical of young wines, slowly disappears, and the tannins become silky.
The ideal Carafe for young wines must offer optimal contact between wine and oxygen. It will feature a flat shape and wide base or a horizontal duck type shape or an aerator. Depending on the wine’s personality, transfer it to a carafe one to four hours before serving. The younger, more tannic the wine is, the more time it will need to open up.
Using a Carafe for Cheap Wines
You might want to host a wine party on a budget or even want to chill on your couch with a cheap wine you bought in a grocery store. It’s all good. You can pour wine into a fancy carafe to ‘dress it’ for the event. A fancy decanter can do the trick too.
Why do you need Carafes?
If you don’t buy a lot of wine to take in months or even a year, then you need to find a large carafe to aerate your wine before consumption. You can use a salad bowl or glass pitcher instead of a carafe but think about the aesthetic a carafe brings to your house.
The Carafe, with its large volume, holds a lot of wine. With the large surface area, your wine will breathe and get oxygen.
You might be taking a young wine presently that you can aerate easily without a carafe. Here’s what you’ll do
- Pour the wine into the glass slowly
- Swirl the wine gently, let it sit for 3 minutes
- Your wine is ready
How to Choose the best Carafe
When shopping for a carafe, they’re some qualities you need to look for. You want to buy the perfect Carafe that will fit your purpose. Below are a few qualities to check out;
- Look for lead-free glass carafes: They’re safer because they’re durable, and lead leaching won’t be an issue. You want to get a carafe that’s dishwasher safe and chemical-free. You can consider getting glass carafes, but put in mind that they’re very fragile.
- Shape: You might love a swan-shaped carafe and other great designs, but the thing is how easy it is to wash them. Get a carafe that your hand reaches easily when washing.
You can clean your carafes easily with reusable cleaning beads—made of stainless steel to ensure effective cleaning.
Add warm water and swirl the beads gently to magnet wine deposits. In fact, the cleaning process doesn’t need soap.
Conclusion
Traditionally, the Carafe is more of a vessel that stores liquid mainly. Still, people use it mostly today to serve juices and wines—because the shape doesn’t affect the taste of the liquid in it
