How to Store Your Leftover Wine
And the first person to ask, “what’s leftover wine?” buys the next round.
You could consider this week’s edition of Quiantrelle an addendum of sorts to last week’s penning of Should Your Wine Age? (the link, naturally, is below if you missed it. Tsk, tsk.)
I was pleasantly surprised by your comments and questions, either publicly or privately, and was surprised it sort of piqued interest. As I wrote in that post, sometimes I’m just too close to the cork to smell the bottle (just kidding – that actually never happens, but you catch my drift.)
Today’s post, is inspired by those queries and comments, especially
, of the hilarious and insightful newsletter, The Downsizing Diva, and special shout out to who pens the delicious and thoughtful Sunny Side Breakfasts and Desserts, who asked about keeping wine once it’s open.Below is a slight adaptation to a blog I wrote for The Wine Sisters more than a year ago and thought I would give the old girl another spin on the dance floor.
When You're Going to Finish the Bottle by the Weekend.
If you know you're having a glass tonight, another tomorrow night, and will finish the bottle on Friday, simply putting it in the fridge is fine.
Open bottles of wine – both red and white – will last roughly a week if tightly sealed and kept in the fridge. Perhaps seven days for white, four or five for red, if you want to get really specific.
To re-seal the bottles, simply jam the cork back in, or should that no longer fit, basic plastic wrap and an elastic, as unsophisticated as it may be, works too.
The cold temperatures of the fridge will slow the wine’s oxidation, and keeping the bottle closed also prevents air from further degrading the wine.
Will it be as fresh as when you opened it? Of course not. But for most palates, the fade is so slight, it will hardly be noticeable.
Take the red wine out of the fridge about 30 minutes before serving to allow the wine to come to an appropriate temperature.
For whites, take the bottle out of the fridge about 10 minutes before serving to get rid of the excessive chill, which hampers the flavours.
Would it be useful to you to read an article on best serving temperatures for wine?
When You'll Get Around to Finishing the Bottle Sometime This Month...
I’d love to take credit for this little gem, but really, I learned it from Niagara winemaker Thomas Bachelder – a man who has worked and studied in Burgundy and Oregon, and one of the greatest wine minds I know.
A few years ago, when I hosted him on my company’s IG live wine series, he recommended purchasing a few half bottles, preferably with screw cap (in Ontario, they’re generally the cheap ones kept in front of the cashiers.) Drink the wine, turn it into sangria, use it for cooking, whatever, but keep the bottles.
When you only want a glass or two, and must open a full 750ml bottle, the first thing you do is pour the contents of the big bottle into the empty, smaller bottle you’ve so wisely purchased for times such as these. I stress, this must be done first, not the morning after, when waking up bleary-eyed and seeing the dregs lounging on the kitchen counter.
Air, over the long term, is the enemy of wine, so your first goal is to reduce the amount of oxygen that gets into contact with the wine.
The small bottle, when filled, reduces air contact to only the smallest fraction; the screw cap is easy to tightly close, and you have much better chances for keeping wines fresh than leaving the wine, half full, in the big bottle where the air-contact-to-wine ratio is greater. Thomas says this can work for three weeks to a month! (Insert mind-blown emoji here.)
When You're Not Sure When You Will Finish the Bottle...
There is a handy, and very expensive, gadget out there called a Coravin. (This is not a sponsored post, but I sure as heck wish it was.)
These are syringe-like instruments that pierce through the cork (which remains tightly sealed in the bottle) and allow for a teasingly slow dribble of wine to come out.
Coravins aren't cheap (about $300 CDN), but for those with wine collections they are a worthy investment. Especially for those of you who want to stay on top of your bottles’ development (and who doesn’t?), a Coravin allows wine lovers to check on the progress of their precious babies without opening a bottle too soon.
A Personal Note on Gadgets
Students inevitably ask me about pumps and gasses and nozzles and fizzles. I’m not really a gadget person. A corkscrew, decanter, and glass are all I need for my general wine consumption.
If you’re a gearhead, then by all means, go to town stocking your bar with the shiniest of toys.
I did use a vacuum pump when I was a sommelier working in restaurants to seal the By The Glass bottles at the end of the shift, but for home use I find these to be just an extra expense and extra thing to add to your cabinets. Unless you really want them, you can certainly get by without them.
Thank you for reading Quaintrelle. I am grateful for your time and interest.
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Stay well, Wine Lovers. Drink better.
xo – Erin
Can Your Wine Age?
I teach a wine class called Wine for Beginners. As the name would suggest, it’s a six-week intro course for fledgling enthusiasts looking for the basics on how to taste, some high-level winemaking theory, and best practices for food and wine pairing.
What a great post and LIFE saving tip. A great read as always – and thank you so much for the shout out!
Love this, thanks!