One of the most common questions I get asked as a wine expert has to do with how long to keep an open bottle. If you’re worried about the bottle going “bad” before you finish it, you’re not alone. According to a 2006 study by the California-based, Wine Market Council, this is one of the most widespread concerns among wine drinkers.
Screwcaps are tops on my list when it comes to alleviating the worry of not finishing a bottle. Not only are twist-offs a convenient closure, they keep opened wine fresh. I recently left an opened white wine topped with a screwcap in my refrigerator for three weeks and it tasted fruity and bright when I got back from the Christmas holidays. With the surge of wineries adopting the tin roof of progress as their preferred closure, make one of your New Year’s wine resolutions to relax and unwind. These days it’s hip to be screwed.
If the wine you want to keep is sealed with a traditional cork, the good news is that once wine is opened it lasts longer than you’d expect.
Wine has a love/hate relationship with oxygen and needs a kiss of air to develop. Too much air over time, however, and wine will dull and eventually oxidize making it taste like Sherry (which is bad unless it’s Sherry). How long wine lasts once opened depends on a number of factors including wine type. For example, due to antioxidants in the skins of red grapes and often higher levels of alcohol, a powerful, deeply-colored red should keep longer than a lighter, more delicate white. Port, which is fortified with grape-based spirits, has the dual action preservatives of alcohol and sweetness so it is protected longer than dry table wines.
Then it comes down to how you close and store the bottle. Do you simply reinsert the cork and leave it on the counter? How about storing in the refrigerator or using a special gadget to protect the wine?
In preparation for the holiday wine onslaught, last month I tested various methods of preserving open wine. Granted, this was not a scientific experiment, but rather a real-world test to see how these gadgets (or lack thereof) would perform. I bought five bottles each of 2005 Trinchero Family Sauvignon Blanc and 2005 Beaulieu Vineyard ‘Coastal Estates’ Private Cellars Pinot Noir and put them to the test.
After 10 days of using various methods mentioned below, all of the bottles except those stored with decorative stoppers were drinkable, and I might add enjoyable. So don’t be afraid to pull the cork on Tuesday because you can still enjoy a glass on Saturday and beyond.
Closures/storage methods for each of the five bottles of Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir:
• Bottle #1: Recork/stored on counter
• Bottle #2: Recork/stored in refrigerator
• Bottle #3: Decorative stopper/ stored on counter
• Bottle #4: VacuVin wine saver system/ stored on counter
• Bottle #5: Private Preserve Wine Preserver Gas/ stored on counter
Results:
One-Five Days After Opening:
For the first two days that both the whites and reds were open, bottles that were simply re-corked and put either on the counter or refrigerator tasted better than those that were sealed with one of the gadgets. Wines sealed with the gadgets seemed more closed and shut down. (Putting the cork back in or using a decorative stopper for several days is an ideal method to use with full-bodied, young reds to smooth them out and open them up.) If you prefer your whites at a cooler temperature, store them in the refrigerator, but remember that if it’s too cold the aromas and flavors will be muted until the wine warms up. Storing reds in the refrigerator will slow oxidation and keep them fresher longer, too.
Keeping Wines for Five Days or More:
A week after opening, the re-corked wines stored on the counter and to a lesser extent in the refrigerator, lost their freshness and tasted slightly dull though were fine to drink. The two wines closed with decorative stoppers didn’t fare as well. Unless the stopper has a tight seal, it allows too much oxygen to interact with the wine. The two gadgets that preserved the wine best past one week were the VacuVin air remover system (I used the Concerto model http://www.vacuvin.nl/) and Private Preserve (http://www.privatepreserve.com/).
VacuVin is a brand of vacuum pump that removes air from the bottle and reseals it with a plastic stopper, which slows oxidation. The most effective method I found, however, was Private Preserve. A popular brand of inert gas (nitrogen, carbon dioxide and argon) that is squirted into the wine bottle, the result is a protective layer of gas to keep the air at bay. Both the Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir closed with this method were still fresh and fruity after 10 days.
One More Thing…
Here’s a testimonial for Private Preserve (and no, I’m not their spokesperson). My husband and I are home winemakers and last fall when we were putting our 2006 red in barrel I came across a 5-gallon glass container–called a carboy–full of Syrah. From the 2000 vintage, this wine was meant to be used to top up our barrels of wine. Obviously we forgot about it. Luckily, six years ago I squirted it with Private Preserve and simply closed it with a rubber bung. As we hesitantly opened the wine to taste it, I was certain it would be horrible. On the contrary, it was delicious. Smooth and earthy, we poured it in a pitcher and served it to our neighbors and friends with some grilled sausages.
Guess what? That well-aged wine is now gone.