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In years gone by, all Bordeaux reds would have been decanted – if fortunate enough – by your butler in his pantry and brought through to your dining room. Hence there was little need for the wonderful array of labels on bottles we enjoy today. This is the very reason why Berry Bros. & Rudd bottlings had such a neat and concise, if plain, label: the owner never really saw the bottle.

There are two main reasons to decant red Bordeaux. If it’s a young wine with robust tannins, the act of decanting allows the wine to breathe and open out. Typically, for any vintage since 2000, you might decant an hour before serving, and longer for younger wines.

The other main reason people decant is associated with older, more mature wines. Pour these gently through a funnel with gauze. This prevents any larger particles, like those from a crumbly cork (as well as finer sediment, which is best left in the bottle), from entering the decanter, and in due course, your glass.

Timing very much depends on the age of the wine. For a good-grade wine from the 1990s, I would decant an hour or so before serving. For something very much older, I might decant minutes before pouring.