What shape is a port decanter?

And not for another reason: A wide bottomed decanter opens the maximum surface area to air, for a port surely you will be looking for a bulb shape as the decating is not to "air" but to filter out crud?

pk

Did the person that asked you to give a port decanter have a reason for asking for this particular item? Did the receiver of the gift "wish" for a port decanter or perhaps want one without knowing whether one decants port? A nice decanter can be something that if a person does not have a specific wish for will find its way to ebay or the Salvation Army.

DH graduated from an academy and I bought a Waterford decanter with glasses (ships type decanter.) It has set for years, gathering dust.

I like a small glass of port occasionally with chocolate. I pour it out of the bottle. It will keep. Unless one likes the beauty of the decanter with the port in it, it seems to me a waste otherwise, unlesss the person has a bar to display most of the time.

Good luck, Dee

Decanters often used to have movable labels so you knew what was in which one. This suggests to me that there is no traditional shape for a decanter of any specific wine. Make sure you get a decanter with a stpopper though - as opposed to a wide mouthed jug for decanting wine into. Howver undesirable, unfinished port was (I believe) often kept in the decanter on the sideborad, so a stopper woudl be required to keep dust, flies, etc out.

Perhaps in the UK at one time, it was a custom in many households to always have Sherry, Port, Scotch, and perhaps Cognac in decanters ready to serve at a moment's notice in glasses that were kept nearby. However in the US and many other countries, port has not been as popular as in the UK in the past, and not a lot of vintage port was consumed. More often than not, except for opened vintage port, fortified wines were kept in their bottles at a bar area along with spirits. In the early history of the US, Madeira was the most popular fine fortified wine.

Although many think of fine crystal as high lead content crystal, this is a modern idea that perhaps dates from the time when perfectly clear wine glasses that sparkle became popular. The traditional Bohemian and Italian glasses of the highest quality did not usually contain lead. Their composition was somewhat varied. Considerations included expansion stability, because 2 or 3 glasses of different color often were layered and then cut to reveal various color patterns. The Italians often needed a glass that would work with small gold flakes in it. The surface of the glass needed to engraved with ease. The surface needed to bond well with enamel, including subtle translucent enamels. The surface also needed to hold gold well. Often patterns were first engraved or etched on the surface, and then these were filled in with gold to give a 3D effect. Uranium glass was very popular at one time. A bit of uranium gives a shade of green that was very popular. Old uranium glasses still can be found. They are easily detected with a radiation counter. I don't know if some uranium would leach out of uranium glass or not with long exposure to wine or spirits. Moser, especially, used several rare earths to produce glass of very unusual colors.

Depends how much port you drink stored like this. You'd need to do some googling and some sums. I'm guessing there is a very narrow range of port consumption levels that would give you lead poisening before wrecking your liver. OTOH it hardly seems worth the risk when the alternative is using a lead-free decanter.

Interesting range of responses to this simple shape question. Mostly in the "don't know" category.

The traditional Port decanter is indeed the one with the thin neck and the wide, flat bottom. Go look at all those old British movies and you will see this decanter being passed at all those regimental dinners and around the table in the Manor House.

No reason why you can't serve Port from any shape of decanter but if you want to be authentic, it's gotta be the right one.

Big, useful snip.

Gosh what a lot of information, thank you.

Judith

Steve, I think I may resort to keeping it in the bottle!!!

Says Judith - just off to have a liver function test!!!

It's nice to know that I am right for once when it comes to something to do with wine!!! I have two of these and we do indeed use them, I use the other one for sherry, perhaps someone can advise what shape decanter should be used for sherry??

Judith

snipped-for-privacy@googlemail.com wrote on 5 May 2007 11:01:09 -0700:

jl> On May 5, 9:04 am, Steve Slatcher jl> wrote: ??>> On 4 May 2007 13:20:38 -0700, " snipped-for-privacy@googlemail.com" ??>>

??>> wrote: ??>>> Our decanters are pure crystal so ??>>> hopefully we are not poisoning ourselves!!!! ??>>

??>> Depends how much port you drink stored like this. You'd ??>> need to do some googling and some sums. I'm guessing ??>> there is a very narrow range of port consumption levels ??>> that would give you lead poisening before wrecking your ??>> liver. OTOH it hardly seems worth the risk when the ??>> alternative is using a lead-free decanter. ??>>

??>> -- ??>> Steve Slatcher

jl> Steve, I think I may resort to keeping it in the bottle!!!

Is there such a thing as a lead-free port or sherry decanter? A Google search proved surprisingly unrewarding!

James Silverton Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.comcast.not

Mark Lipton