I recently posted a Kerin O’Keefe article on wine decanting to my personal Facebook page as well as to the Barolo and Barbaresco Facebook group page. The article elicited strong responses and I thought it would be beneficial to capture them in a blog post for wider sharing.
At the completion of the data collation effort I decided to feed the material to ChatGPT to see how it would handle such a task.
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| Source: medium.com |
I first asked it to summarize the Kerin O’Keefe article and the below was its work product. The prompt for summarization is TLDR followed by the web address of the target article.
Kerin O'Keefe, an experienced wine writer, advises wine enthusiasts to never decant older wines. Decanting can expose the wine to too much oxygen, which can diminish its flavors and aromas. Instead, O'Keefe suggests that you should open the bottle carefully and let the wine breathe naturally in the glass. If you need to remove any sediment, use a fine-mesh sieve or a decanting funnel with a filter. Overall, the goal is to preserve the wine's delicate nuances and characteristics.
Pretty good, I thought. I next prompted it to “Review and categorize the comments and write an article discussing the major items while highlighting the most impactful contributions. The below was its work product.
The comments above highlight different perspectives on the decanting of wines. Some believe that decanting an old wine, especially a Barolo or Nebbiolo, may cause it to lose its aroma and flavor, while others argue that decanting a wine, young or old, can help improve its taste. Some say decanting depends on the producer, variety, age, and even weather conditions during the vintage. Some decant all young red wine, and others, most "older" red wine, but don't decant very old wine, red or white, unless it's not expressing its varietal character out of the bottle.
Interestingly, most of the comments suggest that decanting depends on the drinker's personal preference and experience. Jamie Pettigrew commented that wine preparation is just another "opinion," while Scott Walker advised letting the wine dictate what to do. Brad Smith said that it's a function of the wine's variety, age, and that specific bottle. Manuel Somohano suggested that decanting an old wine is to drink it right away, while Ken Vastola shared his experience of drinking a lot of old Nebbiolo that improved after decanting.
The most impactful contributions in these comments are that there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to decanting wine. Every drinker has their own preferences, and it's essential to consider the wine's variety, age, and condition. Some wines may need decanting, while others don't, depending on how they express themselves in the bottle. It is, therefore, best to experiment with different decanting techniques or none at all and let the wine be the guide. As a drinker, you can also learn from your past experiences with a specific wine estate or producer to determine if decanting is necessary or not.
In conclusion, the comments above reveal a broad spectrum of perspectives on the decanting of wine. However, there is a consensus that decanting depends on personal preference, wine variety, age, and condition. Ultimately, the best way to find out what works for a specific wine is to experiment and trust your palate.
First, when I initially considered writing the article, I had grouped the comments according to those who agreed with Kerin, disagreed with her, fence-sitters, philosophers, etc. There was no such clear delineation in the package. Also, there were, in my opinion, impactful contributions from Manuel Burgï (again and again) and Rico Thompson but they were not called out by the bot. That being said, I thought this was a passable capturing of the themes of the comments.
