Most Vintage Port need decanting to separate the Crust or sediment from the wine and to aerate allowing the wine to develop. The best way to decant Port is to stand the bottle upright for an hour or so – even 10 to 20 minutes will help to allow the sediment to fall to the bottom of the bottle. Then take a funnel with a filter and gently pour the Port into the decanter.
Port purists would use a plain crystal Port Decanter so you can view the nectar clearly. Usually the Port Decanter will have a more bulbous base and relatively short neck. This allows a greater surface area for oxygen to mix with the wine allowing it to develop faster.
The universal Ships decanter can also be used to serve Port too.
A fun and traditional way to serve port is by using a Hoggit Decanter. This is a round bottomed decanter with a separate base normally Wooden or a Silver Hoggit base. The idea is that the Host having filled the glass of the Guest to his right passes the Port to his left and the Guests then always fill the glass to their right before passing on to the left and the decanter passes around the table and is returned to the base. Because of the rounded base the decanter clearly cannot be put down ensuring no Guests will hog it!
It is also traditionally bad form to reach for the Port or to directly ask for a refill. If the Port is stalled in its travel or becomes anchored to the table the proper way to request it is to ask the nearest person to the Port if they know the Bishop of Norwich, a reference to an alleged stingy character. Should the reply be No I do not know the Bishop of Norwich, the riposte should be He is an awfully nice chap, but he never passes the port! This should release the port from its base to be passed around to the left to you.
Tradition also has it that the whole bottle or decanter is shared and drunk at one sitting and that no one leaves the table until it is finished.
Port is not only a serious drink it is also very much a fun drink to be shared with friends and family, somehow it tastes so much better when decanted into a Port decanter.
The choice of decanter is very much a personal one dependent on your taste and budget, be it plain crystal decanter or a hand cut crystal decanter. The most important thing is to enjoy the banter, fellowship and companionship that sharing Port brings.