Right Ideas for Leftover Wine

The Thanksgiving leftovers are finally gone, but there are still those half-empty wine bottles to contend with. What’s a person to do?

My favorite strategy for leftover wine is to avoid the predicament entirely by inviting enough people over to drink every drop. In such a game plan, the telephone is my indispensable tool.

If I do find myself with some leftover bottles, there are three of the simple preservation methods on which most wine experts tend to agree.

Refrigerate It: If you don’t want to fuss with any other method, simply re-cork the bottle (red or white) and stick it in the fridge. For sparkling wine that cannot be re-corked, purchase a sparkling-wine stopper that easily clamps down over the top of the bottle and keeps it closed with an airtight seal.

Note that red wine will need about an hour to reach room temperature before serving so if you are currently working on the stock exchange floor you may want to skip forward to another method.

Vacuum It: Use a Vacu Vin device to pump out the remaining oxygen in the bottle. The rubber stopper keeps additional oxygen from entering. This will usually keep wine in good condition without refrigeration for a few days.

Gas it: Buy a small can of inert gas such as Vineyard Fresh and use the small straw attached to the can to blast a couple of shots into the bottle before re-corking. The gas acts as a barrier, protecting the wine from oxidation.

The exact number of days that a wine will keep, regardless of your preferred preservation method is a matter of trial and error. Novices and trained palates alike will know with one sip when it’s time toss it down the drain or into a pot of marinara sauce.

Tags: wine