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When you’re craving a buzz, what’s your alcoholic beverage of choice? If you’re like 31% of Americans, it’s wine.
With a multitude of types and a price range that can accommodate almost anyone, wine is an excellent drink for just about any occasion. But what happens if you can’t finish a bottle that you open?
To keep you from having to pour your 750mL bottle of joy down the drain, today we’re going to look at how you can save wine for later.
Read on to learn more.
Does Wine Go Bad?
It’s not uncommon to open a bottle of wine then finish it a day or two later. However, it’s important to understand that after a certain point, wine does go bad.
When you buy a bottle of wine at the liquor store, the top of it is sealed. As air can’t get, this prevents oxidation from occurring. That said, the moment you remove the cork, the sulfur dioxide which preserves the wine begins to disappear.
Once this is gone, there’s nothing left to keep your wine from turning sour. After a certain point, you’ll find old wine to have a diluted color, a strange smell, and a funny taste.
Wine Preservation Techniques
Luckily, ensuring that your wine lasts until the next time you drink it is easy. Let’s look at some of the top things you can do to preserve the flavor.
Keep the Cork
Whenever you open a bottle of wine or crack open a bottle of champagne, make sure that you don’t toss out the cork. Keeping it is one of the best ways to ensure that it lasts for as long as you need it.
Many people make the mistake of trying to reseal an old bottle of wine with the clean side of the cork. Try to avoid doing this, as the “clean side” has been exposed to air and other things. Because of that, it can contaminate the taste of your wine.
On the other hand, the side of the cork that was initially in the bottle has already touched the wine, and because of that, is fine.
Pour the Wine Into Another Bottle
One of the problems with keeping wine in an opened wine bottle is the amount of air present. Even if you reseal the bottle with the cork, there’s still a lot of air inside the bottle—especially if you’ve had a glass or two.
To keep oxygen exposure from becoming a problem, look into investing in screw-cap half bottles to preserve your wine for later. After you’re finished drinking for the day, just pour the remaining wine into the bottle and seal them.
While there might be small amounts of air in the half bottles, there’ll be much less than in a full-sized 750ml bottle.
Keep It in the Fridge
If you cook food and plan on eating leftovers the next day, would you leave it sitting out on your counter? Of course not! Make sure never to do that with your wine.
Whether it’s red, white, or something else, make a point to put any opened bottle of wine in the fridge. Doing so is one of the best ways to ensure that the flavor doesn’t go bad with time.
Just keep in mind that putting an opened wine bottle in the fridge doesn’t stop the oxidation process altogether. You won’t be able to save it for two or three months. It does, however, slow the process down, allowing you to preserve your wine for longer.
Invest in a Gadget
While old-school wine preservation methods may involve nothing more than corks and refrigeration, many modern gadgets can help you preserve your liquor for as long as you want.
Some allow you to pierce the cork without breaking the seal. Once you finish drinking, the device can then help you reseal the cork. It’ll be like you never opened it in the first place!
If you’re a fan of champagne or other types of bubbly drinks, consider getting this champagne preserver. Sparkling wine, in particular, will become flat and foul-tasting in no time. But with a device like that, you’ll have no problem enjoying it later on.
Try to Finish It
At the end of the day, remember that a 750mL bottle of wine is just that. You’ll get around five glasses of wine per bottle (unless you’re a heavy pourer), which isn’t too much.
If you’re splitting a nice bottle of wine with your partner, that equates to each of you getting two and a half glasses. Even if you’re someone who’s quick to feel the liquor they drink, a few glasses of wine won’t leave you with any long-lasting effects.
Some studies even indicate that drinking a glass or two of wine now and then is good. So raise a glass to that and enjoy!
Save Wine and Enjoy It Later
While we might like to view wine as a magical liquid that can never go bad, the reality is that, like anything, it can. Because of that, unless you finish a bottle right when you open it, you’ll need to know how to store it for later.
Use this guide to help you understand how to save wine and have it still taste fresh the next time you grab it. Remember to limit oxygen exposure and store it in the right place!
Do you now have a better idea of how wine preservation works? If so, spend some time checking out the rest of our site for more great content.
