When was the last time you still had wine left over after a dinner party? Okay, we can’t think of a time either, but once the wine has been exposed to oxygen, it begins to lose its flavors and aromas. Unfortunately, this happens pretty quickly! Our best tip is to finish the bottle—you can do it—but just in case National Drink Wine Day leaves you with a glass or two left, here three tricks to save it.
Refrigerate It
Red, white, doesn’t matter. After you open it, put it in the refrigerator. The cold won’t stop the oxidation process, but it will slow it down significantly, giving you one or two days more should you absolutely need it.
Transfer It
Crazily enough, there are in fact half-bottles of wine sold in most stores. A good way to save leftover wine is to transfer what’s left into a smaller bottle, leaving it exposed to less oxygen. Keep an empty half-bottle handy for rare situations in which you might need to keep wine for a few extra days.
Transfer It Again
A tried and true method of saving wine that is somehow left in the bottle is to pour it into a mason jar. The same thing that makes mason jars good for canning is equally as helpful in keeping wine from souring—a nifty little airtight seal that can keep your wine fresh for up to 5 days, lest you need to save it for that long.
Talk to us: Do you use any of these tips to save leftover wine? What has or hasn’t worked for you?
image courtesy of flickr cc/Dan Dickinson