Unbleached coffee filter instead of decanting to filter out the sediment

Copiada da WS online

Dear Dr. Vinny,

I have heard that you can use an unbleached coffee filter instead of

decanting to filter out the sediment. Any thoughts? Obviously you would only

do this at home without guests.

-Mark G., Midland Park, N.J.

Dear Mark,

I open plenty of bottles of wine, and a good share of them are older wines

with sediment. I never worry about the sediment-a steady hand and a clean

decanter are all I need to separate the wine I'm serving from the gunk at

the bottom. If possible, I set my bottles upright for a day or so before

serving to make sure that most of the sediment settles to the bottom, but

even in a pinch, I just don't sweat the sediment, and at most, maybe 2 or 3

ounces of sediment-heavy wine are left over in the bottom of the bottle.

Some of my friends, especially those who collect Port, are much more worried

about sediment. Let's be clear-the stuff that makes up sediment (dead yeast

cells, bits of grapes, phenolic molecules) is harmless and not contaminants.

But some folks just don't like the way sediment can muddy a wine with an

unpleasant grittiness. I get that.

My friends who go to more extremes to remove sediment will employ, yes,

unbleached coffee filters, or several layers of cheesecloth. Some of the

sediment may still pass through this extra filtering, but my friends feel

that they're saving another ounce or two of drinkable wine.

-Dr. Vinny