To remove sediment before serving, decant the wine into a separate container.

Have you ever raised a glass of fine wine only to find that there are little specks and chunks of an unknown substance at the bottom? Well, fear not, this is only sediment, and it's perfectly natural and common in many wines. To find out what exactly sediment is and how one can avoid getting it into the glass, we spoke to a wine educator and connoisseur.

Wine expert Len Napolitano has loved wine since an early age. His writing on wine appears in many California newspapers, as well as in magazines, on the Internet and in a popular California Visitor's Guide. He is certified by Society of Wine Educators and the International Wine and Spirits Education Trust, and grows Syrah grapes on his property in Agoura Hills, Calif. Here he explains what sediment is and how to deal with it:

• Solid material. Wine sediment is the solid material that settles to the bottom of a wine bottle. It usually means that the wine is of an old vintage or that it was hand crafted and possibly not filtered.

• Indication of aged wine. Wine sediment in a bottle isn't necessarily an indication of bad wine. In fact, in many cases it's a sign that the wine is well aged, and therefore good.

• Sediment is harmless. Sediment in a wine is harmless. It's okay if you happen to drink some sediment in your wine, but it's not something you want to do intentionally, as the taste can be very harsh.

• Remove by decanting. To remove sediment before serving wine, simply decant the wine by pouring it slowly from the bottle into a decanter. Stop pouring when you start to see the wine sediment enter the neck of the bottle, and then allow the wine in the decanter to air out a little bit before pouring it into glasses.

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