Preserving Wine – what to do with the unfinished bottle of wine

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Joe Becerra

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Repair Wine Saver – it works!

Preserving Wine

There are several strategies for saving and preserving wine.  Don’t let that unfinished bottle of wine go bad. Once you open a bottle of wine, the oxygen in the air begins to act on the wine. At first, it is a good thing because oxygen allows the aromas of the wine to come forth. “Let your wine breathe” is commonly told by wine experts. It gives the wine time to open and let its inner character shine.  With time, a day or two, oxygen becomes wine’s worst enemy. If one is unable to finish a bottle of wine, you can use these various devices and strategies to preserve the wine as long as possible.



Preserving wine gadgets

There are a ton of preserving wine gadgets on the market for saving that unfinished bottle of wine. One of the hottest devices for preserving wine is the Coravin Model One or Model Two. It is being used widely in tasting rooms and restaurants. It uses a unique system that pierces the cork with a fine needle.  A blast of inert argon seals the wine from oxygen, preserving the wine indefinitely. See the video below for additional information.

New in the wine preserving arena is the Repour device. The base price is $9.99 for four stoppers. Each stopper has a tab that you pull off. Somehow the stopper absorbs oxygen from the bottle. I tried this with a bottle of wine that had maybe 6 ounces remaining. Two weeks later, the wine was just as tasty as the day I opened the wine. Last week I tested again on two bottles of wine that I wanted to compare over several different dinner meals. Once again, this Repour device worked perfectly. Excellent invention for the person who does not finish a bottle of wine. Repour Website. 

For Champagne/sparkling wine, use one of the many clamp devices made for Champagne bottles and refrigerate.

The refrigerator for preserving wine

Put the wine, red or white, into the fridge as soon as possible. This slows the oxidation process. Drink the wine within a few days. For red wines, don’t forget to take the wine out of the refrigerator a couple of hours before drinking. Let it come to cool room temperature.

Other strategies for preserving wine

Fill the remaining wine into a smaller bottle and refrigerate.
Freeze the wine and use for cooking when needed.

Amazon has tons of wine preserving gadgets. Consider these to purchase for the wine geek:

     

Video on the Coravin System for Preserving Wine

  • Joe Becerra

    Joe Becerra has been traveling to wine country and enjoying wine since 1965. He is a retired educator, and now have the time the opportunity to share his wine travel experiences through this Website.

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