Decant

The act of pouring a wine (generally an older wine) off any SEDIMENT or deposits that may have precipitated out and settled in the bottle. Sometimes the term is used to describe the action of pouring a young wine into a decanter or carafe to mix it with oxygen and open it up, but this is more correctly called AERATION.

When you use wine in cooking, all of the alcohol evaporates.

Answer: False.

Most of the alcohol will--but only if the dish is cooked for a couple of hours, like a stew. About a decade ago, the U.S.D.A. conducted research on this issue. Their findings showed clearly that the longer something is cooked, the less alcohol remains. In the experiment, 85% of alcohol remained after wine was added to a boiling liquid and then the pot was removed from the heat. If the food was baked or simmered 15 minutes, about 40 percent of the alcohol remained. After one hour, only 25 percent remained; and after 2 hours, just 5 percent. Keep in mind that wine does not have a huge amount of alcohol to begin with (generally 12 to 15 percent) so for most people, the final amount of alcohol in their portion of a dish is rarely a problem.

“[Our path to professional paradise] ultimately comes down to passion, and not just for wine. Passion for life, for each other, for journalism, and for the romance and adventure of wine—not so much the liquid in the bottle, as the history and the memories. In that sense, a piece of paradise is available, with a little effort, to lovers everywhere.”

— Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher, former Wall Street Journal wine columnists and co-authors, Love by the Glass: Tasting Notes on a Marriage.

— Dorothy Gaiter, former Wall Street Journal wine columnist and co-author, Love by the Glass: Tasting Notes on a Marriage.

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