Should I Decant My Wine?

A customer came in the other day and bought a couple of wines I recommended. I love when that happens. As I was checking him out, I suggested that he decant one of the wines. He asked what I meant, and I told him to pour the wine into a decanter for an hour or so. Then he asked "what's a decanter"? I was speechless for a moment. Have I become a "wine snob"? Why should I expect everyone to know what decanting is? So I explained it to him and he merrily went on his way - another happy customer!
Which brings us back to the topic of decanting.
There are two reasons to decant your wine. For older reds (10 years or more), you decant to strain off the sediment that may have developed over the years. If you've ever had the experience of chewing these solids that form in red wine, you know that they need to be removed. "Purists" will scoff at this, but the easiest way to decant these wines is to pour them from the bottle through a strainer into your decanter.
The second reason to decant is to aerate young wines. This usually applies to young reds, but I've seen whites also benefit greatly from a little air. The extra air opens up the nose and softens the tannins. Once again, purists will hate this idea, but, what I like to do is pour the wine from the bottle through a Vinturi aerator into the decanter. This provides extra aeration and will benefit any young wine.
Decanters come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, and prices range from $5 to $1000+.  Seriously.
The good news is they all pretty much accomplish the same thing, so expensive will likely get you a prettier decanter, but not necessarily a better one.

Tom