I've heard more than one time, that Pinot Noir doesn't need to be decanted. It is a true or false statement ?

There is much debating on the subject of decantation throughout the entire wine community. For a while, I was under the impression that the older the wine, the longer it needed to be decanted. This is somewhat false, and was due to me not understanding the true value of decantation.

Decanting allows the wine to be exposed to the air, to oxygen, and will naturally soften the tannins of the wine. In a way it is forcing the process of aging, same philosophy as spinning the wine in your drinking glass. Thus it is more important to be done to a wine that is very young. And often a rougher, less careful decanting is recommended, also known as "splash decanting". So just dump the bottle into the decanter, the more air the better. There are even decanters with ridged interiors meant to create turbulence and enhance aeration.

Older wines may require "gentle decanting", but this is up for debate. Since the wine is aged, it does not benefit from the exposure to air. It is more about allowing the sediment to settle. Depending on how the wine is stored (ideally along its side to decrease chance of corkage), this settling of sediment would be a good thing. However, the more air introduced into an old wine, the rougher the decantation, the higher the possibility that the fragile wine will go "flat".

Since Pinot Noir, most typically a Burgundy, is typical a grape meant to be drank after some good age, I would say there is no better wine to decant while young. Especially if it is quite tannic, and you are looking to taste a bit of the elegance that only comes with age. However, if it is an older vintage the experts say "Pinot Noir has such a highly nuanced, delicate perfume that these fragile aromas can dissipate/deteriorate quickly because of excessive exposure to aeration". So some will forgo the decantation on older vintages, despite sediment issues.

Probably not; decanting is mostly for removing sediment, though it does help the wine "breathe". I doubt you would find a Pinot Noir that contained sediment like this (though it is usually best to decant old wines), so you should be safe without it. Though it can't hurt to do it anyway (presentation wise).

Steve

I think it depends greatly on the wine.
Most pinot noir is made light and fruity these days. These wines do not require any decanting (they have also been filtered before bottling most likely).
Some wines, usually the more expensive ones, may be made with the darker flavours, especially pricier burgundies. These wines are better with some aeration (decanting).
Gently decant them an hour before serving.
Perhaps for very old burgundies, and we are talking stuff more than say 15 years old, they may become too delicate. But since most of us are not drinking 20 year old grand crus, I would say decant the better burgundies, don't decant the pinots from napa or carneros, might decant the pinots from santa rita hils...