There should not be any excuse for letting a drop of good wine go to waste!
We all love a good bottle of wine! You’ve just had dinner with your significant other, and the half-finished bottle of wine remains on the table. It’s late, and you both have work in the morning, so you’re not thrilled with the idea of polishing it off right away.
But it’s a good wine, and cost a lot more than the bargain bin selections at the local wine shop. So how to ensure that the aroma, taste and character of the wine remain consistent for days – or even weeks – after opening?
There are several options these days to keep your wine fresh after it’s first opened, from high-tech preservation systems to simple tricks. “If you’ll be finishing the bottle in a day or two, simply re-cork it and refrigerate it and you’re good to go. In fact, aerating wine can actually improve the flavor after a couple of days.â€
But if you’d rather save the remaining wine for weekend entertaining or beyond, here are a few things to know:
Re-pressurizing the bottle is a must. There are several ways to do this. Manual pumps that stick through the cork like a syringe will suck out the oxygen and create a vacuum inside the bottle – necessary to stop oxidation. Simply pump until you feel significant resistance, and you’re done.
Automatic vacuum preservers take out the guesswork. These high-tech devices cost anywhere from $30 to $100. Just press a button, and in just a few seconds they’ll remove the excess air in the bottle before inserting a wine stopper, creating a vacuum that will preserve the bottle for as long as 14 days more than simple re-corking.
Insert a wine preservative. Just point the straw into the bottle, spray a couple of blasts and re-cork. Comprised of a safe, odorless and colorless mix of inert gasses, usually Nitrogen and Argon, these preservatives create a barrier between the wine and the air remaining in the bottle.
Go pro. A new breed of restaurant-quality wine-preserving systems are trickling down to the consumer market. These systems allow upright display, on-tap-style dispensing and Argon gas preservation of three to eight bottles, so there’s always a variety of choices on-hand and ready to serve. Wine Saver Pro offers a classy looking, chrome and black, five-bottle model for around $1,000 and a three-bottle version for $800.
These above tips were taken in conversation with a wine expert and a good friend Dan Soskin, founder of PINOT , the wine accessories superstore in Philadelphia’s historic district. A must see!
Also visit an interesting site www.indianwine.com