Wine on the table? Bottle or jar?

When organising a dinner party, some people have doubts about whether to put the wine on the main table or on a side table.

If it's a formal meal, the wine should be on the side table.

Regardless of the type of event, the bottle or jar being tall objects creates some disturbance in the good visibility that should exist from one place at the table to the other. For the same reason, water jugs should not be left on the table and flower arrangements should be low enough not to create any kind of barrier.

This brings up another question, which is whether or not to decant the wine into a bottle and how to tell which wine is being served when decanting.

Decanting is justified for a number of reasons; in wines of a certain age, it avoids natural sediment, favours a quicker release of aromas and in young wines with a certain complexity, it also "calms" the tannins, which are often harsher.

Regardless of these reasons, it's always more elegant to present the wine in a pretty bottle, especially if there's no side table and the wine has to stay on the main table. If you don't want your guests to know what the wine is, this solution is ideal. If you want guests to know which wine is being served, place the original bottle on the side table next to the bottle or on a serving sideboard.

Manuel Pereira de Melo