Corking up a bottle of wine when celebrating a momentous event is probably the most fulfilling way to start a party. Any event happening in your life is significant; thus, toasting your favorite wine label is obligatory. A red wine, white wine, Rose, Champagne, or anything will do as long as it fits the celebration.
As you go along and pick the wine of your preference, there are some cases that you won’t be able to consume everything. It could mean left-overs of opened wine bottles that you can still consume later on. Hence, in this article, we’d like to give you some practical techniques on how to keep the quality of your leftover wine after opening.
Store the Wine in the Fridge
Putting the leftover wine inside the fridge is the most reasonable way to preserve the taste of the wine. Take note that oxygen is not good for wines. It affects the taste as soon as you open a bottle. Oxygen may help the wine at first since it helps in exuding its aroma. However, prolonged exposure may affect and spoil the whole taste.
Wines you may serve, such as Saint Estephe Bordeaux Wines, are sensitive to oxygen. It is the reason why you need to refrigerate leftover wine as soon as you have consumed the right amount. Make sure you set your fridge to the right coldness. Take note that the cold temperature might not degrade the oxidation process, but it can slow it down and preserve the fresh taste of the wine.
Keep Your Wines In Dim Light
Leftover wines are more prone to the oxidation process because they get exposed to air and light. The best way to keep your wine fresh as soon as you open it is to store and keep it in a darker place. Hence, you need to find an area that does not expose these wines to direct sunlight.
Take note that when these wines get exposed to direct light, the oxidation process quickens. It can destroy the taste of the wine, putting it to waste. Finding a storage area that’s free from natural light and air will surely keep a fresher taste of the wine, allowing you to savor the original taste still even if you sip it a day after you open the bottle.
Utilize a Different Container
Using a half-bottle or different container when storing your leftover wine is another way of keeping its crisp taste. It is advisable, primarily, if you serve large-format wines, and there are still a lot of wines left. Containers that can hold up to 150 ml are ideal to use so it can help the volume of the wine intact.
Make sure to transfer your leftover wines to smaller containers before you store or put them inside the fridge. It limits the flow of air as it has less space. It means that the oxidation process won’t take place. The air will have no place to go with the wine, and it ensures the preservation of its authentic taste.
Opt for Wine Shields
Wine shields are another reliable way of preserving leftover wine. For those who might not know, wine shields are a small round disc that comes flexible. They are inserted in a bottle of remaining wines that sits and floats on top of the liquid. It can last for many days allowing the wine to preserve its taste.
Moreover, wine shields are made of air bubbles, which helps the wine to settle upright. It does not plug in the neck of the bottle, but it freely moves to keep the aroma of the wine fresh. These wine shields are ideal for households that do not consume a bottle of wine in one sitting. Restaurants and bars, which also use wine as their main ingredient, can use this to preserve the taste of the wine in a couple of days.
Make Use of Wine Stoppers
There are some wines that you can buy in metal caps. Take note that when the cap is removed and broken, the wine can acquire more oxygen, making it prone to the oxidation process. It is why you need to look for some alternatives to finding another cap to make the taste fresher.
Utilizing wine stoppers can preserve the aroma of leftover wine. These wine stoppers create an airtight seal to prevent oxygen from entering the bottle. Wine stoppers can come in decorative designs, and you can choose anything you like. Lastly, there are also wine stoppers, which are solely made for a specific bottle. Make sure to ask for the right one before you buy it.
Hey Ladonna,
One of the great pleasures of learning about and enjoying wine is curating a wine collection that is personal to your tastes. But choosing and buying wines are only part of the process: they also have to be stored. When preserved correctly, wine can last for decades, even centuries, growing in value and quality.
~ Amar Kumar