How do I decant?

[Mike J. W.]

Hello All,

I'm mainly a Port drinker, but I have purchased a few bottles of Madeira. My problem is that I don't know the proper amount of time to decant and even how to. I'm going to be including a D'Oliveiras 1989 Malvazia in a tasting that I'm doing in early September. How many days or weeks should I open it before the tasting to have it at its peak when served? Do I let it sit in a decanter? Do I use a filter/strain it like I do with a Vintage port? Any and all tips would be appreciated. Thanks.

Mike

[Glenn E.]

The rule of thumb that I was taught is 1 day of decant time per decade in bottle. And that's really more of a minimum than anything else.

Madeira is basically bulletproof, so you really don't have to worry about opening it too soon. Roy once told me a story which prompted me to immediately start an experiment to replicate it. I opened a bottle of RWC New York Malmsey which is now almost empty, but it has been open since 2009. The last time it was tasted (blind) by a true Madeira expert that person was very accurate with their guess as to what it was, but then guessed it had maybe been open a few months while it had actually been open for 10 years.

There may be some sediment in a bottle of Madeira, but it will be that super-fine stuff like you sometimes get in an old tawny Port. I doubt you'll see any in that 1989 as it's really too young to have developed any yet. I think I have 3 or 4 of those left... they're really good!

A splash decant a day or two ahead of serving - into a decanter then back into the bottle - has usually been sufficient in my experience. For really old Madeira that has been in bottle for decades I'll leave it in decanter for the above recommended number of days.

[Mike J. W.]

Thanks Glenn. That's really helpful.

[Eric Ifune]

It's really difficult to over decant Madeira. Glenn gives the correct rule of thumb but as he said, it's generally a minimum. I'll decant, clean out the bottle, then double decant back into the bottle. Did you get the tee top stoppers that D'Oliveiras gives with their bottles?

[Mike J. W.]

It's really difficult to over decant Madeira. Glenn gives the correct rule of thumb but as he said, it's generally a minimum. I'll decant, clean out the bottle, then double decant back into the bottle. Did you get the tee top stoppers that D'Oliveiras gives with their bottles?

Thanks for the advice, Eric.

Unfortunately the bottles I won at auction didn't come with tee top stoppers. I have some synthetic stoppers that I use with wine, so I'll go with one of those.

[Roy Hersh]

Buy some inexpensive Tawny Ports if you need to obtain some new T-stoppers. I save mine and if I was still in the USA, I'd send you a couple of dozen. But maybe when you come back to PT someday, Mike!

I realize this adds to the expense, but I believe that Madeira shops in Funchal, at the producer's "lodges" etc.should give away a T-stopper with every bottle sold. They can't cost all that much, (.5 -.75 Euro is my guess) and the corks in the bottles of Madeira, are generally of low quality.

[Yev Nyden]

Any advise against (or for) plastic/rubber stoppers - for example, https://morewinemaking.com/products/reu ... tcork.html ?

[Andy Velebil]

Any advise against (or for) plastic/rubber stoppers - for example, https://morewinemaking.com/products/reu ... tcork.html ?

While not exactly what you linked, I carry rubber and plastic "t-corks" in my travel bag. They work great and I can wash them off between uses to keep them clean.