Definition: Support

When the use of a decanter is justified but one is not available, a sensible alternative is to "shoulder" the bottle, i.e. remove a glass to lower the level of wine to where the neck begins, which is called the shoulder, by analogy with the human silhouette. A bottle uncorked a few hours before serving can oxygenate better. Transferring the wine to another bottle further increases aeration. On the other hand, it is completely pointless to uncork a full bottle in advance. The surface area of the wine in contact with the air is too small to have the desired effect.