The decanter is a tool that allows you to better taste some wines. But it is often used only to have a scenographic effect.
In aged wines, the decanter is used to separate the sediments from the liquid and promote oxygenation by releasing perfumes and aromas. It can even be used in some cases for young wines that have a slight odor of sulfites or of reduction, which a little oxygenation would dissolve in a few minutes.
However, the decanter is not always useful, nor should it be used as a shaker, some wines could even be demaged.
Lately then, you can also see some sommeliers, who use the decanter for sparkling wines, even for Champagne. They say that the first Champagnes were made to decant to separate the yeasts from the wine, which today is no longer necessary, since the yeasts are expelled during the “degorgement”. Even claiming that with the decanting the bubbles are not lost, but are enhanced. Our opinion is that if we were on planet Venus where the atmospheric pressure is around 90 bar, perhaps the bubbles would not be lost and sparkling wines could even be decanted. But here on planet earth it would be best avoided, unless you just want to create a “Hollywood” effect and don’t give a damn about serving up a Champagne in the worst way possible.