My man and I had a romantic night. The food was great and he spent a little extra on just the right bottle of wine.Well, one thing led to several other things and we really didn't put a big dent in that delicious, pricey wine. Can any of this fine wine be saved for tonight's round #2?
A: Yes. Remember that the two great enemies of wine are heat and light, and that once uncorked, the wine is already doing a dance with the oxygen in the air that will ultimately lead to the grape juice's expiration.
There are a couple of rules of thumb to know and a couple of tricks for extending the lifespan of an open bottle. Recork completely. Shove that cork all the way back in, or pick up a few rubber-bottomed stoppers so no air can make its way into the open bottle of wine. There are also special stoppers available for sparkling wines that clamp on tightly to preserve the bubbles for an extra day or two.
The fridge is your friend, so use it. This goes for red wine, too, y'all. Keep all opened bottles in your fridge, and the wine's life will be extended by 2 to 3 days if you're lucky. By the way, a lot of red wines taste better with a slight chill on them anyway, and the wine will warm fast enough in a glass. Don't leave red wines on the counter!
Gadgets and Gas: There are a couple of gadgets and gas products on the market that may or may not preserve your wine a bit longer. The popular VacuVin item purports to "vacuum" the air out of your open bottle with a simple pumping motion. Frankly, I don't think this works too well, but maybe you'll have different results.
Similarly, there are gas products (usually inert noble gas like argon) that you can use to substitute for the dangerous oxygen that will turn your wine into vinegar. Again, I wouldn't really bother with this unless it's a super expensive bottle of wine that you really want to try to preserve.
Share your wine. Can't finish an open special bottle? Nothing builds neighborly love like knocking on the Jones' door and saying, "Hey, we've got this great bottle open that we can't finish - can you help us out?"
Honestly, depending on how you pour, each 750 mL bottle of wine only yields 4 to 4.5 glasses of wine, which isn't all that much. With many doctors recommending 1 to 2 glasses of daily wine for optimal health, you and your sweetie aren't doing too much damage by kicking a bottle. (Do it yourself, however, and the health benefits are replaced with all the bad side effects of drinking, so don't overdo it.)
Thanks Bonnie Graves for the advice.