How to keep an open bottle of wine fresh is something every wine lover struggles with. And, now that Lockdown 2 has started if we feel like a glass of wine we have to have it at home. It’s great to have a glass but you don’t want to feel pressured into finishing the whole bottle. I’ve read reports that 624 million bottles of wine are poured down the drain every year as a result of it going off. However, you don’t need to pour wine away. My guess is that a lot of this wine could have been saved by following a few simple guidelines. I have a few straight forward tips and gadgets that will help you keep opened wine fresh.
As soon as you open a bottle of wine it starts to become stale as it reacts with the air. Oxygen turns wine into vinegar. Firstly, you should always remember to put a good stopper or even the cork back in the bottle. Secondly, try to store opened wine, even reds, in the fridge. Keeping your wine below room temperature slows the chemical process of oxidation down. Wine stored with a stopper in the fridge keeps fresh for 3 to 5 days. For best results, store the wine upright to minimize the surface area exposed to oxygen.
If you need to keep wine fresh for longer than this then there are two key wine preservation systems to help you.
Vacuum Systems
Firstly, vacuum systems. These rely on pumping the air out of the bottle so that the wine does not react with it. The most famous of these gadgets is the VacuVin with its distinctive rubber stoppers. We don’t stock VacuVin but we do have a stylish pump and stopper from AdHoc that does the same job. This is a popular option because it’s affordable and easy to use. It does keep your wine fresh for a little longer than just using a stopper especially if you keep the bottle in the fridge.
Blanket Systems
The second type of wine preservation system, a blanket system, works even better. This relies on using an inert gas, such as argon. This gas is heavier than oxygen so when it is pumped into the bottle it sinks forming a layer over the wine. The gas doesn’t harm the wine at all. These systems really do work to keep wine fresh some for weeks or even months. The leader in this field is Coravin. However, Coravin isn’t cheap coming in at about £200 for the basic model. Therefore it tends to be the preserve of restauranteurs and wealthy wine connoisseurs. If this is you and you’re interested in exploring this option further here is the link to Coravin’s website.
We stock Winesave Pro, a more affordable blanket option at £28. It works on the same principle using argon gas. Each cannister will preserve about 100 bottles.
Sparkling Wines
Finally, what about the sparkling wines. The key is using a really good stopper to keep the bubbles in and the wine fresh. Our champagne stopper by AdHoc certainly does the trick. Store your bottle upright in the fridge and it should keep fresh and fizzy for a couple of days.
I think all of these gadgets are real winners. There is no need to throw away good wine. Go ahead and open a good bottle and have a glass. You will be able to keep your wine fresh and not waste a drop. Let us know if you have any tips for keeping wine fresh or any other wine gadgets you would like to see us stocking.