The Common Kitchen Ingredient That Can Help Remove Stains From Your Decanter

If you're decanting your wine, you're already ahead of many oenophiles (that would be fellow wine aficionados). You already understand that decanting wine and allowing it to aerate for as little as 15 to 20 minutes lets your wine breathe, unlocking new depths of flavor, and allows unwanted deposits and sediment to drop to the bottom mof the liquid. No matter what you're drinking, from a commonplace screw-top bottle (which may actually taste better!) to an aged vintage plucked from a collector's cellar, it's often going to be a better experience if you decant first. What isn't a great experience, however, is dealing with a decanter that's stained with old red wine.

We reached out to Maximilian Riedel, CEO and President of Riedel glassware, for his opinion on the topic. While the Riedel company sells dedicated cleaning beads that are agitated in the decanter for gentle stain removal, not everyone owns such specialized equipment. Luckily, Riedel has a tip for decanter stains that doesn't involve going much further than your pantry. "[T]ry filling the decanter with white vinegar and letting it soak until the wine is removed," he suggests.

Once you've opened your wine, with or without a corkscrew, you know almost instinctively that you have to be careful for splashes on your clothing or kitchen linens, particularly when you're handling red wine. Grape skins contain tannins and anthocyanins, which contribute vastly to the full-bodied flavor of red wine, but they are also what make wine stains so resistant to removal. Your glassware, too, is susceptible to wine staining. 

Riedel's tip is to pour vinegar into your soiled decanter "at the base, where stains are mostly located," and allow it to sit for some time so it can lift the stains. Just like vinegar removes chocolate stains, another notorious cleaning headache, so will it eventually clean your wine decanter thanks to its acetic acid. 

For really persistent discoloration, Riedel has one last hack up his sleeve. "For particularly stubborn staining, we also recommend trying denture cleaning tablets," he divulges. The effervescent and stain-fighting ingredients in Polident tablets or other denture cleaners will gently lift stains without harming your glass. Whatever you do, be sure that you never use harsh chemicals like ammonia or abrasive cleaning tools such as scrapers or sponges on your decanter. Simply put, these methods are a great way to scratch nice glassware.