What is decanting and what are the benefits?  

Decanting is simply transferring the contents of a wine bottle into another container (the decanter) before serving. It may sound strange that pouring wine from one glass container into another could make it better.  Strangely enough, it does.  Of course, it's not just the transfer of liquid from one container to another which causes the benefits of decanting. When we decant a bottle of wine, a couple of things happen. Slow, careful decanting allows wine (especially older wine) to separate from its sediment.  If left mixed in with the wine, the sediment would cause a bitter flavor. Also, when we pour wine into a decanter, the splashing causes the wine to mix with oxygen, enabling it to develop and come to life sooner.  This is especially important for young wine.