A ‘decanting cradle’ is a bottle carrier (also called “berceau à vin” or “corbeille à vin” in French), generally made of metal or wicker, which is particularly helpful for very old wine bottles that have been stored horizontally for a long time. It offers the advantage of keeping the bottle at a perpetually inclined angle with the neck of the bottle only slightly higher than the base of the bottle (where most of the sediment has accumulated through the bottle aging phase). Hence, the sediments are prevented from precipitating into the wine glass while pouring it.
To be effective, it is very important to keep the bottle as horizontally as possible (and without shaking it) when the bottle is placed into the decanting cradle (with the label facing up for potential clients or wine lovers to be able to see it easily). Then the ‘old’ bottle is uncorked carefully inside that ‘decanting cradle’ (without needing to turn it).
Another technique that is often used (for wine bottles with low to medium level of sediments) in lieu of the ‘decanting cradle’ it to place the bottle vertically several hours before opening it.
Special decanting machines have also been developed, which are designed to delicately pour wine out of a bottle kept horizontally, with the deposit barely moving at all.
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