This is an interesting question that we get asked regularly at shows and expos. You know when you open a bottle of wine between two people and for some reason, you just don’t finish it? (It doesn’t happen often in my household but apparently it happens in others)
Here are a few tips from us about how to preserve those bottles of wine!
Sparkling:
Firstly, NO, the Silver Spoon doesn’t work. Where on earth did that idea come from anyway? Seriously! Obviously, a champagne cork will not fit back into the bottle so I recommend keeping regular corks from Reds or Whites that you open and use that to close the bottle instead and pop it back in the fridge. It should be okay for a couple of days. Alternatively, there are a number of Champagne stoppers on the market. I recommend this one:
If you want to save money though, just go with the regular cork from a regular bottle.
White & Red Wine:
There are always new gadgets and gases coming onto the market trying to tell you they can preserve wine. At the end of the day, once oxygen enters the wine and the Sulfur is released, the wine will start to oxidise. One such device is a Vacuvin. Vacuvins suck all the air out of the bottle to seal it and avoid oxidation. I’ve tried it and truthfully, it works better on wines with ability to age than the cheaper wines. There is another product called Wine Save which you spray into the wine and it seals the bottle with an inert gas (like nitrogen or argan) into the space left by the wine you have consumed.
Firstly, I don’t agree with spraying anything into my wine and secondly, I’ve tried it and I don’t believe it works.
If you get yourself some cash-ola, there is this awesome invention created by Vintec called SoWine: It retails for around $450-$500 and it allows you to keep 2 bottles of wine opened at serving temperature for up to 6 days . Wine by the glass with no waste!
I’ve never used it but it would look pretty cool on my bench!
The best way I’ve found to keep half bottles of white wine is to reseal it and pop it back in the fridge. Whites should be okay for 3 to 4 days.
Reds are a tougher beast. What I have found works for us is to push a cork into the bottle, pop it in the fridge (bringing it down in temperature will slow the oxidation process) and then bring it back to room temperature when you want to drink it. Do this within 2 days though.
Fortifieds: Due to the higher alcohol content, these babies will stay open for a month before going off…so enjoy a little bit every night.
Hopefully this helps you!