Tip of the Day: How to store leftover wine

by Bob Sassone, Posted Mar 24th 2008 @ 4:00PM

Have you ever found yourself with leftover wine? Here's how to store it.

wine bottle and glass This is what usually happens to me, especially if no one else is drinking the wine I've just opened: there's still a half bottle or maybe a little less left in the bottle. How do you store it? Do you just recork it and leave it on the counter?

Actually, that's a bad idea. I was reading one of my favorite wine/cocktail books, Oldman's Guide To Outsmarting Wine, and Mark Oldman suggests putting the cork back on the bottle and storing it in the fridge (not just whites, but also reds). I've always done this anyway. Not because I had any science to back it up but just because it seemed that putting it in a cold area would slow down any deterioration process. You could also pour the leftover wine into smaller bottles, which would have less air in them. Of course, a lot of this depends on whether you're going to drink the leftover wine later that night or the next day or a week later. If you want to store it for a very short time (a day or less), you can leave it out, as long as you avoid extreme temps.

A lot of true wine connoisseurs swear by those vacuum pumps to get the air out of the bottles (though Oldman says they only prolong the life of the wine a day and you have to pump them immediately), but if you don't have one of those one of the above tips will do the trick.

Filed Under: Tip of the Day, Drink Recipes, How To
Tags: red wine, storing wine, white wine, wine, wine tips