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How long does a bottle of wine last after it is opened?
- YeGoblynQueenne 6y agoI wonder if this is a technological solution for a problem whose impact is so small that it isn't worth the effort, or the materials to "solve". For one thing, wine is the kind of product that was made for thousands of years before people knew anything about inert -or any kind of- gases, oxidisation, or fermentation. Of course people used their senses to determine the qualities that we measure today with instruments [1] but if something like wine couldn't be made to work without today's technology, then it would never have been invented in the past, when that technology didn't exist. It used to be that people stored wine in big clay jars -pithoi (singular pithos) and amphorae- when glass bottles were very rare. These would have been sealed airtight but the pithoi in particular could take literally tons of wine. I guess it would be possible to come up with some complicated procedure to keep a pithos always full to the brim so that the least amount of air would enter, but I struggle to believe that, e.g. ancient Roman taverns, would have a system like that in place. More to the point, my friend's dad makes wine (I help pick the grapes most years) and he bottles it with a machine that simply inserts a cork. No inert gases. It's good wine, too. He sells it to a very successful restaurant owned by his partner. People drink it. I don't reckon anyone complains - partly because they get to drink the wine while seated right next to the vineyeard, which I'm sure would improve the taste of even vinegar. Even more to the point, the dad sends me and my friend a few bottles of his red each year (we're flatmates). We both drink very conservatively so a bottle can last us a month or more even. We just put it in the fridge. I can't say I've ever detected any deterioration in taste. On the other hand I'm not the person who drinks wine and waxes poetically about tones of banana and caoutchouck etc. The dad's wine is a strong red with a hefty tannine kick. Personally I like it very much that way. He also makes white, which I don't like much, and a moschato (a kind of red aromatic Greek wine) that is delicious. And port, occasionally. I've never detected a hint of going-off-ness in any of those that I've drank either at my friend's house or from a batch sent to us by the dad. So what's up? Is my olfactory system simply defective? I know I can detect differences in acidity between say 6.0 and 5.8 pH, most of the time, so I don't think that's the case. I don't like to make an argument from nature, but it's true that the dad makes his wine in a very plain, traditional way, with no additives of any kind, except for some extra yeast in years when the weather is inclement. They even press the grapes manually, or rather by foot (they have a hand-cranked machine to do the first press, then someone big gets into the big wine bucket thing and steps on bags of grapes to squeeze out the last few drops). I'm aware that industrially made wines sometimes have additives of various sorts. Perhaps these end up making wine more susceptible to oxidisation and fermentation? ________ [1] I learned recently a heuristic for yogurt making, from a friend who makes yogurt. She says, once the milk is heated to near boiling point, you wait until you can stand keeping your pinky in it while counting up to 9, I think. I reckon the actual number is subjective, you just need a way to have a ballpark figure for the duration. I reckon also you learn the right temperature by feel without having to count, once you've repeated the process a few times. I found out from the internets that the right temperature is 45 degrees Celsius. I told my friend and she didn't know that. She just knew when her pinky feels it's ready.
- _nickwhite 6y agoI was highly disappointed to read this: "Whatever you do, please don’t buy a VacuVin or anything resembling such a device that allows you to “pump out the air from the bottle.” These devices just don’t work as advertised. Sure, they remove some air, but not enough to truly protect the wine." So I guess we'll just finish the bottle!
- odonnellryan 6y agoThey work absolutely fine actually. Weird.
- jxramos 6y agoI'm not so sure, I think vacuvins do make a difference. They certainly make a vacuum too because you hear a noticeable air rush when you break the seal. Maybe I'm fooling myself but it did seem to keep the wine fresher than just leaving the bottle open or corked up.
- GekkePrutser 6y agoThat doesn't mean it's a vacuum inside. Just that it's lower pressure than outside. The question is how much lower :)
- jxramos 6y agoI'm curious now what the volume per cylinder pump is. It normally takes several pumps before you start hearing the little spring clip noise thing communicate that the max vacuum has been achieved by the device. The more wine that has left the bottle the proportionally increased number of pumps to max out the device.
- kibibyte 6y agoYou just have to set realistic expectations. Some internet people have done tests and concluded that it does extend the life of a wine by a couple of days, and some internet people have not found a difference. Based on anecdotes from a friend, it works better on some wines than others. I haven't searched hard to enough to come across anyone claiming that it makes things worse. For a $12 thing, it's not a huge investment to get one and see for yourself whether it works or not.
- blakesterz 6y agoSpoiler: They say about a week, depending on the type of wine, and keep in in the fridge, which sounds about right. I'm the opposite of a "super taster" and even I can tell if a bottle has been opened for more than a week or so usually.
- sjg007 6y agoSome wines taste better the second day.. basically decanted in the bottle.
- dayofthedaleks 6y agoRather than keeping it in the bottle, I’ve found pouring the remainder in a Mason jar is very effective at preserving flavor.
- leetrout 6y agoHow much is the jar filled? I wonder if it’s just a function of less air?
- dayofthedaleks 6y agoI do tend to choose a jar sized such that there’s more wine than air, but I suspect the lid’s superior seal is the big factor. And I’m completely baffled by the downvote earned by my GP.
- leetrout 6y agoI’ve switched from mason jars to Weck jars and won’t go back. It probably wouldn’t make much of a difference in this situation but if you’ve not seen them / used them you might find them interesting. It seems like it would be more than the seal since recorking a bottle still creates a decent seal (but traps all the air). Yea I had another comment agreeing with another OP downvoted. Seemed odd to me as well.
- hanoz 6y agoTitle needs to be changed to "how long does a bottle of wine keep after it is opened", because I can assure you from long experience the answer to the titular question is: about an hour and a half.
- cosmodisk 6y agoThis is very accurate estimate. Frankly, I very much doubt many people would leave half empty wine bottle for weeks or months.
- dylan604 6y agoIf you plan to cook with the remaining wine, it will remain viable longer for that purpose than for drinking. At least, according to the internet.
- 2muchcoffeeman 6y agoJust put it in the fridge. But even vinegar is useful.
- Groxx 6y agoA few parties I've been to have had several bottles of partially-remaining wine left over - unless you drink a moderate amount daily, it could easily take a couple weeks to get through. For that kind of scenario, you're left with options like "drink it all ASAP", or "drink a little, dump the rest", or "find some way to make it last longer".
- ashtonkem 6y agoOr if you opened something far off your normal preference, such as a bottle of white for me.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- Barrin92 6y agofrom my extensive, selfless research in this field I'd say a few days, preferably storing it cold after opening.
- Aeolun 6y agoThat Coravin thing is the best thing I gleaned from this article. Much too expensive for a casual buy, but will be great if I ever get into wine. It’s cool to know it’s possible at all.
- frutiger 6y ago> Much too expensive for a casual buy, but will be great if I ever get into wine. It’s cool to know it’s possible at all. When you get into wine (and assuming you are sharing it with someone) you will very likely discover that a bottle does not last more than a couple of hours.
- mattmaroon 6y agoBut half of the second bottle might!
- hendiatris 6y agoThe thing that matters is oxygen exposure more than anything. You can’t (trivially) reverse the effects of oxygen. This is why Coravin exists: replace the air (with oxygen) with an inert gas. You can do the same for cheap by putting the wine in a container (preferably gas) that reduces its exposure to oxygen, ideally entirely. There are companies selling other tools that do this, like an inflatable device that goes into a bottle.
- ValentineC 6y agoThe article mentioned pouring an opened bottle into a half-sized (presumably glass) bottle, but I'm surprised it didn't suggest pouring the wine into a plastic PET bottle, and then squeezing all the air out. It's a trick I've seen suggested elsewhere before, and one that I've used often myself — it certainly beats paying a hefty sum for a Coravin or VacuVin!
- ateng 6y agoWine drinkers would be horrified with the sigh of any wine touching any plastic
- mauvehaus 6y agoHikers would be horrified at the prospect of carrying a 750ml glass bottle any distance. Most of us, incidentally, develop a taste for whiskey if they don't have one already. It's a lot more weight efficient, and its drinkable at most any temperature sans ice or mixers. Jim Beam even sells a 750ml plastic hiker bottle. If Beam isn't your thing, you can always use it as a decanter for your preferred poison once you've finished the OEM liquor.
- frabbit 6y agoLast time I was hill-walking in the UK I was very happy with little tins of wine I got from Marks & Spencers.
- toyg 6y ago> a plastic PET bottle Quelle horreure! With all due respect, that sort of container will spoil the wine in other ways after a very short time.
- xyzzyz 6y agoHow? PET is very non-reactive.
- 6y ago
- guidedlight 6y agoThis bit was interesting: “ If you want a longer shelf life, you can buy your own canister of inert gas, and spray that into the half bottle (or even the full bottle) to displace the oxygen. These canisters aren’t cheap, and there’s no real way to know when you’ve sprayed enough gas into the bottle, so most people overshoot out of an abundance of caution, and they don’t end up being great value for the money.” It probably depends on the gas that is used. Argon is probably best, because it’s heavier than Oxygen. So a even small amount should form a seal just above the wine. However, gravity’s effect on any gas will be minor.
- amelius 6y agoHow about burning the oxygen with a small flame inside the bottle?
- dylan604 6y agoI want to see the schematics for whatever device you design to make this happen.
- Groxx 6y agoI imagine a dirt-cheap 'wand lighter' would do just fine for this purpose. Stick it in the bottle, click, it'll burn out in a couple seconds.
- dylan604 6y agoand you prevent the air rushing back in, how?
- Groxx 6y agoC02 is heavier than air, so... probably somewhat easily. If it's "rushing back in" at a truly significant rate, it probably wouldn't burn out. It's not going to be perfect, of course, you're only burning things - tons of oxygen is left over, it's an imperfect process on its own. Achieving a perfectly-deoxygenated environment isn't the goal though, extending the wine is.
- MoZeu 6y agoIf you have to ask, you're doing it wrong.
- anonymousDan 6y agoNot long when I'm around!
- alhirzel 6y agoI'm surprised the article didn't suggest just buying bagged wine. The bag takes the shape of the contents, so no oxygen enters. El cheapo bagged wine lasts way longer.
- mattmaroon 6y agoThere aren’t any bagged wines worth drinking. There are some ok wines with screw tops or synthetic corks. Wine drinkers don’t like the idea of things changing.
- teh_klev 6y agoI hate to say that this is nonsense and a touch of wine snobbery, and I'm a "wine drinker". As daily drivers and post work glugs there are plenty of decent bagged wines (or rather boxes). I've had plenty from pals who've brought these things back from French supermarkets to Scotland, which are super cheap and decent quality for the money. It all depends on the wine you want to drink in the moment. As my brother once pointed out when our mother passed away, there's drinking whisky and funeral whisky.
- s1artibartfast 6y agoDo you have any suggestions for bagged wine in the us that would be comparable to a $20 bottle? I have tried most and haven’t found any
- _nickwhite 6y agoCostco. Both the cab & pinot grigio are decent- and I have hated every other boxed wine I’ve tried.
- s1artibartfast 6y agoThanks, will check it out!
- 6y ago
- coding123 6y agoI stopped buying red wine altogether. It seemed like no matter what I did I would just straight up taste vinegar. Decanting doesn't help me.
- leetrout 6y agoThat’s largely my opinion of reds as well. We recently found Roscato from an Olive Garden take out and it’s the first red I’ve liked. Basically grape juice.
- DapperZoom 6y agoI find these comments fascinating. I've never heard anyone say this before, but I wonder if it's similar to the phenomenon where a certain percentage of the population thinks that cilantro tastes like soap.
- leetrout 6y agoIf this is of any help for your anecdata I cannot stand cilantro either.
- hindsightbias 6y agoThe wine industry has totally failed to adapt to the Covid era. Or maybe not, now that I have to finish a bottle by myself.
- mattmaroon 6y agoHa! You must not know people who work in the industry. It was a record sales year. There’s no worry about adapting, just fulfilling demand. On premise consumption (restaurants, bars, etc.) is only something like 20% of sales. Retail is most of it, and 2020 was insane. Brands view on-premise largely as discovery/marketing.
- myrandomcomment 6y agoSales wise this year was great. I have some friends that own vineyards and they are sold out. The major issue they face being in NorCal is that they had to compose most of their grapes in 2020 due to the fires (the smoke can be tasted in the grapes and it is not something you can make go away). 2 of them I know it was a complete loss. So wine prices are going up in Napa in the next few years.
- insaneirish 6y agoHere's a great article if you want to learn about some of the fascinating chemistry behind 'smoke taint': https://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-fo-dr-smoke-wine-20190104-story.html https://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-fo-dr-smoke-wine-2... The article is written by Arielle Johnson, who is an incredibly knowledgable PhD in the flavor world. She's also the Chief Science Officer for the latest round of Alton Brown's 'Good Eats' series.
- myrandomcomment 6y agoThanks. Also Good Eats rocks. I recommend anyone that likes food and science watch it. Best cooking show for geeks ever. Alton and his wife do a live YT steam on Tuesday's called Quarantine Kitchen. Funny. Uncensored. Alton has a sailors mouth.
- Syzygies 6y agoGo to Airgas and buy a 40# argon tank meant for welding. Thirty seconds will displace the air in a nearly empty wine bottle threefold. The tank will last years. One stops worrying about bottle boundaries. One buys magnums. ("A difficult size, too much for one but not enough for two.") There is a faint mellowing effect by the next day, but nothing like the effect of oxygen. We sometimes deliberately skip argon. In Italy you know you're tight when friends serve yesterday's wine. Those wines need the abuse. Most wines don't handle the abuse of an open day well. Scale matters. There are $300 units made of cheap plastic aimed at wine "connoisseurs". The cartridge is the same size I'd carry mountain biking, to fill one inner tube on an emergency basis. That's supposed to last 50 bottles? How stupid does the manufacturer think I am? Yes, argon is heavier than air, but there's this thing called diffusion. There's argon in the air around us; if argon cleanly separated from air and formed a bottom layer, we'd all suffocate when we lay on the floor. Obviously, we don't. Put it together. I'm reminded of Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery cookbook taking heat for proposing 350 ml of water for bread steam, poured onto 30 lbs of thermal mass such as an aluminum disk in a cake pan. That also generates enough steam to displace the volume of an oven threefold. A commercial bread oven depends on serious steam for the first few minutes; this is a home approximation. People liked the idea of spritzing 10 ml of water from a plant spritzer, and were offended Keller did the science. They were just genuflecting. One can wait months to obtain medical grade argon. It's the same process, only tested to confirm the fact that the process doesn't introduce toxins. My wife is a practical engineer; she indulges every exploration like this. Some take. This one took. A standard after-dinner question is "Did you argon the wine?"
- parhamn 6y agoOff topic, but, do you blog? This comment led me to quickly read some of your priors (something I rarely do) and you have some good stories/experiences. Kinda blog I’d like reading
- Syzygies 6y agoThank you? The place I pontificate the most, where I understand my audience, is the Komodo Kamado forum (the best ceramic BBQ made, by Art Linkletter's grandson who I've come to know): https://komodokamadoforum.com/profile/249-syzygies/ https://komodokamadoforum.com/profile/249-syzygies/ I'm known there for a "smoke pot" system for controlling smoke, and doing the math on creating steam for bread. As a mathematician, I'm best known for my "seven shuffles" card shuffling work with Persi Diaconis, the computer algebra system "Macaulay" (too much C code), and being the math consultant for "A Beautiful Mind". I really shouldn't blog. I'm still trying to come up with an understandable proof of the Poincare Conjecture.
- AareyBaba 6y agoBoxed wines solve this problem. The wine is filled in a bladder that simply collapses with air pressure as the wine is poured from the bottom tap. So no air mixes with the remaining wine and there is no deterioration in quality.
- toyg 6y ago> Boxed wines [...] no deterioration in quality It's hard to go down much, when you start low enough. /s
- dorfsmay 6y agoIn Europe, you can find "good" wine in box, the type of wine you'd pay 25 to 30 CAD per bottle here in Canada. Boxed wine is ideal for that one glass you want with your lunch. I wish we had more variety of it around here.
- toyg 6y ago> "good" wine in box, the type of wine you'd pay 25 to 30 CAD per bottle here in Canada. You've just killed my latent curiosity for life in Canada. I already suffer enough in the UK. > Boxed wine is ideal for that one glass you want with your lunch. I agree there.
- shoo 6y agoboxed wine can usually be improved (at least in altitude, if not in quality) by unboxing the bladder and pegging it to a hills hoist rotary clothesline
- munificent 6y agoIn order to keep woodworking finishes from drying in the can, many woodworkers displace air in the can by dumping marbles in. You could probably do the same thing with a wine bottle: 1. Drink as much as you want. 2. Pour small clean marbles into the bottle until the level of the wine is near the top again. 3. Put cork back in.
- pacaro 6y agoThis feels like a surprisingly obvious idea Printmakers sometimes float a layer of water on top of partially used ink to stop it polymerizing. I suspect that floating a layer of oil on top of wine might have some undesirable side effects
- munificent 6y ago> I suspect that floating a layer of oil on top of wine might have some undesirable side effects I love starting a meal with a refreshing glass of Caprese salad dressing.
- codesnik 6y agoI have no idea what marbles are made of, but if they are even remotely similar to actual marble and not, say, glass, I'm sure it'll react with acid in the wine.
- matt-attack 6y agoMarbles are made of glass. Completely inert in this context.
- rsync 6y agoYes, this is very common in beer brewing and wine making - filling up headspace in primary fermenters with glass marbles. I don't like the idea as I don't need a 14th thing to carefully sanitize. Instead, I just displace the headspace with CO2 and have had good success with that.
- 6y ago
- codenesium 6y agoI make a little wine. I bottle what's left into a 375ml bottle. Just make sure you drink in half bottle increments.
- akeck 6y agoWe opened an Ulupalakua Red while on Maui. It was robust and sharp - not very enjoyable. The second night and thereafter it was absolutely amazing.
- exabrial 6y agoBotaBox. Great wine. Keeps forever.
- TomDavey 6y agoA second thumbs-up on BotaBox. I drink its cabernet sauvignon and honestly can't taste the difference from ordinary bottled red, although I've never trained my palate in any serious way. Because of the plastic bladder and preservation from oxidization, the BotaBox wine tastes the same from the first glass until the box is drained, normally a week, at room temperature. I imagine though that one would get that same benefit from boxes of swill like Franzia.
- GNU_James 6y agoWebsite doesn't load without JavaScript. Sage.
- ggm 6y agoI'm surprised by the vacuvin hate. Personally I think it works, but for the three days we usually keep a red, its become less important. My winemaker contacts winced when I said I like my gamay and pinot noir chilled but I do.
- barrkel 6y agoI get chilling Gamay - Beaujolais is usually a fruity unoaked wine and maybe you don't like the grape perfume (Gamay is probably my least favourite grape); but chilling a good Burgundy is criminal.
- ggm 6y agoAustralian Pinot Noir sometimes benefits, not always. I avoid french wines because the ones I can afford here in OZ either have bred, which I hate or, are simply disappointing. Chilled Gamay is a great way to end a hot day.
- barrkel 6y agoHere in the UK Burgundy under £50 a bottle isn't that great. Brett I more associate with Cote Rotie Syrah. In small amounts it adds smoky bacon flavours. I like it.
- DapperZoom 6y agoA much better question is "who cares?". It's like asking how to save a half a bagel or a half of a snicker bar. Man up and finish it.
- hodgesrm 6y agoMany of us care. If you are in the one-glass-a-night crowd storage is an issue.
- arthurcolle 6y agoBread & Butter Chardonnay has been my go-to over the last few weeks. Kinda fruity with some vanilla notes, but I left one open overnight and it was disgusting. Definitely fine if I just cork it though.
- RichardCA 6y agoWith Chardonnay you have to get into technical details like whether they used malolactic fermentation. The wine was probably manipulated with specific strains of bacteria that don't play well with oxygen. With white wines, I'm one of those people who migrated towards Rieslings, especially the German Rheinhessen ones, and found that to be a pleasant experience. Sweeter wines tend to keep better, but a well-crafted Riesling will still have some dryness to it (although I'm probably not using that work in the strict sense).
- pwarner 6y agoThe half bottle trick is great. 375 ml is a great amount for 2 to split with dinner. Lets you open a bottle any night and not feel bad about not finishing.
- pwarner 6y agoAlso, forgot to mention. Warm red wine up in the microwave after refrigeration. Really! Try it! Obviously just to get it to room temperature.
- matt-attack 6y agoMost wine folks agree that red wine should be enjoyed a bit cooler than room temp. I honestly cannot drink room temperature red wine anymore.
- tunesmith 6y agoHow does this reconcile with the need to let a wine "breathe" before drinking it? Is that a myth?
- barrkel 6y agoVarious things start evaporating once you open (e.g. barnyard aromas can blow off), and something does seem to happen to the tannins - they get smoother.
- staticautomatic 6y agoNo it’s not. The wine will improve as it oxidizes- up to a point. After that, oxidation makes it go bad. Where that point is depends on the wine.
- qwerty456127 6y agoThis can vary wildly. According to my experience it can start turning into vinegar in just a week or taste even better than it used to after a month. I love wines for their tastes but I hate even slightest feeling of alcoholic intoxication, as a result I drink it in doses so small an opened bottle usually lasts about a year for me. I bloody wish all wines were avilable in 0.2 liter bottles...
- Triv888 6y agothe small $4, 500ml Black Box wine boxes are not that bad
- jaza 6y agoPersonally I don't bother trying to drink it, nor worry about tricks to keep it potable, after it's been open more than about 24 hours. Just keep it for cooking! White wine with chicken and fish, red wine with red meat. Although I usually only have a quarter of a bottle or less left (and it's usually only a mid-range wine, nothing too fancy), so it doesn't seem like such a waste.
- infradig 6y agoUnfinished wine bottle? Just stick it in the freezer until you need it.
- colordrops 6y agoAre you being sarcastic or does this actually work?
- infradig 6y agoIt works. It's what I do.
- malwarebytess 6y agoIn bulk Winemaking you can prevent oxidation by creating a "cap", a layer of heavier-than-air gas that consequently displaces oxygen.
- myrandomcomment 6y agoSo the Coravin is a cool thing, but just too much for the average person, or even the above average wine collector. The refills cost too much. I know one wine company here in NorCal that has one that they hacked with a line to a commercial grade tank of argon to reduce the cost (a Coravin on a long tube to a big tank...and yes they are all ex-techies). I have thought about getting one for awhile but the cost is just too much and I own 2672 bottles right now (yes, I may have a problem, but it down from a high of 4907 - Covid times). For the most part any bottle we open gets finished in 2 days. For any $$ bottle, it is opened with friends (not in Covid time but..) and it will get finished that evening. The real interesting use for the Coravin is for when you have a number of the same bottles and you want to taste it over time to see how it ages. Buy a case, set it down and Coravin a bottle and taste it every year to see the progression. Anyway wine is a fun thing to get into as long as you understand that $$$ does = best. I have had some $1000 bottles that are amazing wines, but not more amazing then a $100 bottle. The exception would be some very very old bottles 30+ years, but that is an acquired taste as old wine is very different from the normal today to 10 years that most people drink.
- tomcam 6y agoWait you drank 2300 bottles in the last 10 months?
- throwaway1777 6y agoYou can also sell or donate wine...
- stjohnswarts 6y agoI generally take all donations offered at parties.
- myrandomcomment 6y agoI have donated wine for charity auctions. Checking...says 218 bottles.
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- ferros 6y agoLet’s say a half filled bottle lasts 4 days in the fridge. The article doesn’t mention much longer a transfer to a half-sized bottle lasts with very little space for oxygen?
- Clewza313 6y agoAll this faffing about with corks, and not a word about screwtop bottles, which bleed precisely zero oxygen. And yes, in Australia, even the vintage $100+ stuff usually comes with screwtops.
- userbinator 6y agoThe oxygen gets in when you open the bottle and occupies the headspace above the liquid.
- OJFord 6y agoThis isn't about any oxidation that may or may not occur before you remove the (however constructed) lid.
- daniel957 6y agoAbout 40 minutes and then I open a second bottle.
- sodrick 6y agoDepends on the wine... if it’s white wine, it needs to be refrigerated a d it can last for up to 3 weeks, but red wine can last for a long as possible, it doesn’t need refrigeration.... champagne and sparkling wine can’t last a week when opened due to the carbon which won’t be present after some days anymore
- petejames 6y agoI find red wine, particularly with firmer tannins, tastes much nicer the next day after some aeration in the bottle.
- _ph_ 6y agoNo surprise as one is supposed to air the wine before drinking. So the wine needs some oxgen to get to its best. The question only is: when is the optimal point reached? Depending on the wine and if you don't explicitly air it, it should indeed take till the next day to get to its best. Fun fact: while it is said that whisky doesn't need to breathe, I always find freshly opened bottles somewhat disappointing and do think they get a little bit better over the first week open and then stay at the level for long times.
- Fwirt 6y agoThere's also a thing called a "Platypreserve" that is a reusable flexible bag you can pour an entire bottle of wine into and them squeeze the excess air out of before you twist the cap on. (Instead of displacing it or sucking it out.) I bought one and have used it a few times but its primary effect seems to be making the bottle easier to fit into the fridge. I bought it for this purpose but I always drink the wine within a couple days anyway so I'm not sure how much it really slows the process.
- dehrmann 6y agoThat's basically DIY box wine. It has a really bad reputation because it tends to be cheap, but the bag in the box means that the wine will stay good a lot longer than with a cork and bottle. In theory, you can even put good wine in a box.
- handonam 6y agoit's funny this article came up. I just pulled wine from 14 days ago that was in my Eto (mentioned in the article) and it tasted just as great as when I poured it on day 1. https://www.etowine.com/ https://www.etowine.com/ I've used it since the Kickstarter in 2018. For a single glass drinker like myself, this (admittedly expensive) thing really helped me stretch my money over the long haul, because now I don't have to waste my wines. edit: I suppose the Kickstarter price was 50% of what it is now. oof glad I got it
- habosa 6y agoThe Coravin is a really cool device. It allows you to take a single glass from a bottle and leave the rest of the bottle for months or years later. They’re expensive but often on sale for < $150 and worth considering if you’re a “one glass of wine with dinner” person who’d like to buy nicer bottles.
- mjul 6y agoI remember Nicholas Joly [1] recommending to do a longitudinal tasting of his wine, drinking a glass from the same bottle every day for a week, just to see how it evolves. He is the kind of fascinating winemaker that does not even have electricity in his cellars so I doubt he would go for inert gas storage in lieu of re-corking it. I think I managed to do a full week tasting just once, with a lot of discipline. It was an interesting experience with his wine, but in my experience the optimal temporal span for tasting a single wine is no more than a few hours. [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Joly https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Joly
- thecopy 6y ago>optimal temporal span for tasting a single wine is no more than a few hours. If you have tanin heavy wine, you might need to air it for 1-2 hours before drinking. Fortified wines can stay good for weeks after opening.
- mjul 6y agoAgreed. I prefer to keep the wines off the table until they have opened up properly since there is a tendency for them to disappear quickly once the tasting starts. It also allows you to keep them a bit cooler for serving which has a huge impact on the experience.
- littlestymaar 6y agoThat's indeed a interesting question. The answer is: it depends of a lot of factor: oxygen and temperature, as said in the article, but also: - age of the wine (old one usually doesn't remain good after one day) - type of wine (red or white, varieties of grapes): tanic wines last longer. - how good of a year it was (it mostly affect how well the wine will age, but also how long it can stay open) Also oxygen have a big effect on wine, but it's not always a bad one: most Bordeaux (especially young ones) are better after having been exposed to oxygen around one hour before drinking (in a decanter), and sometimes they even get better by the next day!
- jasonwilk 6y agoI once was given ‘wine condoms’ as a gag gift one year. It turns out to be the greatest way to preserve wine. Locks in the gas and blocks oxygen 10x better than the cork. They also last a long time. I highly recommend.
- mjul 6y agoIf you for entirely avoidable reasons end up with wine left over, a simple low-tech storage trick is to pour it into an ice cube bag and store it in the freezer to use for cooking. It saves you the trouble of drinking flat wine and makes for excellent sauces etc.
- vinoZeppelin 6y agoGreat advice in this thread, both technology and just life hacks too. My recommendation: If your horizon is “finish same day”, buy what you like. This is the only horizon acceptable for frequently oaked varieties (like Cabernet Sauvignon), highly alcoholic varieties (like GSM), or bottom shelf supermarket wines. If your horizon is “finish next day”, this is optimal for complex but light varieties such as Pinot Noir, Chardonnay. No technology needed. If your horizon is “finish in 3-5 days”, the best bet is to buy unfiltered (and un-fined) wine. Generally the bottle fermentation continues and the flavors change over time. These have a lot more funk. With unscientific certainty, I posit this must be how the ancients enjoyed their wine! If your horizon is “finish the next weekend”, then start looking at the technologies in this thread. If your horizon is “finish within the month”, buy 375ml, then see above. And as a PSA, generally avoid added sulfites. Wine is alive! Embracing its natural state extends the lifespan of drinkability. No technology should be needed.
- telesilla 6y agoA restaurant I favour serves wine of exceptional quality by the glass, from $20 per serving, as thanks to the CoraVin system they can preserve the bottle over a few days. A good glass with a beautifully paired cheese is the perfect Saturday afternoon.
- idownvoted 6y agoBuy a VacuVin, a fridge, and a cook book for what to do with whatever wine is left.
- mauvehaus 6y agoWinemaking adage: Five gallons are as easy to make as one, and last nearly twice as long. No, I don't make wine, I just saw it footnoted in A Sting in the Tale last night.
- easyas101110110 6y ago"Last" varies depending on if it's contaminated with Acetobacter or not, which can turn it to vinegar.
- alaxsxaq 6y agoWho keeps a bottle of wine around long enough to bother worrying about oxidation? If I was opening a very expensive bottle, I would invite people over to share it. Most wine I buy to drink or cook with costs $10-$20/bottle. Hardly worth making any effort to preserve it if I forget to drink all of it in a few days time - worst case, I toss half a bottle or mix it into some salad dressing.
- bogomipz 6y ago>"Who keeps a bottle of wine around long enough to bother worrying about oxidation?" Restaurants and wine bars who sell high end wines. These Coravin type devices have enable people to order expensive Burgundy or Barolos etc by the glass which were previously not offered by the glass as the unit economics weren't there. It's been a real boon for wine aficionados and wine bars alike. Also wine reps reseal bottles with gas as they generally pour glasses for their accounts and then put the opened bottle back in their trunk for the next account to sample. You would not reseal a $10-20 dollar bottle of wine.
- CoryMathews 6y agoEven those that serve lower end wine worry about it. (Our max bottle is $14ish wholesale). I run a brewery that also serves wine and our bottle loss is a significant enough percentage of our total wine sales, because of our low throughput. It commonly happens that a bottle goes "bad" with only 1 pour from the bottle thus returning a loss on that bottle. Even with the bottles that leave two pours, at expiration, we are making a few dollars but not enough to keep the lights on.
- lisper 6y agoNo one here seems to have mentioned the Coravin Pivot yet, so I'll do it: https://www.coravin.com/pivot https://www.coravin.com/pivot It's a lot cheaper than either the regular Coravin or the Eto, doesn't require needles, and works like a charm. It does require rather expensive argon cartridges, so it's not great for everyday use. But for the occasional pricey wine that you're planning to drink over an extended period of time it's a good investment.
- eschneider 6y agoIn my house, it lasts about 20 minutes.
- RalfWausE 6y agoMy first thought after reading the headline: About an hour or so...
- sunstone 6y agoA friend of mine who did a masters in wine (pinot noir) and a phd in sensory perception ie tasting, keeps scads of left over wine samples in her fridge in used (and washed) plastic drink bottles of various sizes (to minimize air volume). The tricky part of all this though is to know, for a given red wine, how long it should breathe before pouring. It seems some wines really benefit and others don't.
- mikesabbagh 6y agoJust keep it in the fridge, should still be fine in 3 to 5 days