In my opinion, wine tastes better when served in a decanter . Especially when the decanter is hand cut lead crystal.

In the early days of my marriage, when I had plenty of time on my hands and far less money, I used to make wine at home. This activity  kept my little girls busy the whole month of April and was provided a great opening for conversation as I poured out my ruby red, home made wine from a crystal decanter to our dinner guests.

Hand-cut crystal  wine decanters

These two crystal decanters are all that’s left at home now. The tall blue one is Bohemian Lead crystal and was a wedding gift to my in-laws while the clear one beside it was brought back  as hand baggage along with a complete bar set from a trip to Denmark.

I love these delicate hand-cut decanters and  though they’re not in use, enjoy washing them. It is fascinating seeing them glimmer in the sun as they dry.

I am no wine snob, yet I feel sad that wine is no longer served from  decanters. It was such an elegant and gracious way of serving wine,  far more stylish than pouring from bottle or a tetrapack !

Hand-cut crystal decanters were once a fashionable and stylish way to serve wine or whisky. However, with today’s oenophiles, wine has to be served from the original bottle so that the guests know its provenance – year of bottling and all. 

Similarly, since  whisky drinkers have now graduated to Single Malters who claim to know the difference between a Laphroaig and a Yamazaki from the mere aroma, it makes better sense to pour from the original bottle. 

I’m participating with over 1000 bloggers in the 7th  A to Z Challenge  and will be blogging the whole of April about the ‘ Things around My House’, from A to Z. Today I talk about D for Decanter. 

Do visit the A to Z Challenge posts on Facebook.