Decanting – Unceremoniously Delicious Act

I like restaurants that simply do things without asking me.  It is as though the owners and staff are so confident in their chosen endeavour that all things seem to unfold naturally.  Perhaps, that was Henry David Thoreau’s observation when he penned: “…advance confidently in the direction of your dreams and endeavours to live the life which you have imagined, you will meet with success unexpected in common hours”.  

I had the above Henry David Thoreau’s experience at Vivant in Paris.  The sommelier brought the bottle that I had ordered and decanted unceremoniously without saying a word.  The sommelier, then, left the table for a few minutes and returned with glasses to pour the wine.  He knew the wine had to sit in the decanter for a few minutes.  The wine was so mesmerizing and delicious that I almost fell from the chair.

There is a French wine saying: “drink now and experience caterpillar or cellar and experience butterfly”.  Like the Dance of the Seven Veils, some wines take time to reveal.  So the next time you enjoy a wine that you know will open up with some time, try decanting.  You may even see a glimpse of transformation to a butterfly.