Wine made simple

A tricky question! It's not so much about the individual wine cost and quality but more about the grape that's been made to create the wine and how that reacts once it is exposed to oxygen.

White wines are always best kept chilled and we find a generally good rule of thumb, of when a wine is at its best, is any time up to two days after opening it. Either way, it's always good to give the bottle a good sniff before pouring - that way you'll know whether it'll be good for drinking or perhaps should be used within the cooking!

Hope this helps,

Hannah
edited by Hannah (Tesco Wine Community Manager) on 12/09/2011
edited by Hannah (Tesco Wine Community Manager) on 12/09/2011

Hi sheppy,
I had a couple of thoughts on this subject and wondered if these suggestions might be appropriate. Although screw-top wine bottles are on the increase – (and many reputable winemakers claim that this gives them more control over the quality of the wine as received by the customer than traditional cork stoppers) they won’t protect wine adequately for more than a short time, once opened. A few bits of ‘barware’ can help us make the most of our purchases. The “Waiter’s Friend” is a good basic design of corkscrew, incorporating a foil-cutter, but some find them a little unwieldy and may benefit from one of the mechanical variety. These come from a number of manufacturers including CellarDine (available from Tesco, Debenhams, Amazon and Drinkstuff), Le Creuset (who also make the VacuVin wine saver) and Bar Craft, to name but a few.

Wine breathers, like Rouge02 are a great boon and can make any wine taste a lot better by gently blowing air into it, which has much the same effect as decanting it but saves a lot of time. Tesco has a ‘pocket’ version available online.

I mentioned the VacuVin and this makes great sense if – as in your post – you don’t want to drink a whole bottle in one go in these days of ‘more responsible drinking’. A pump and several stoppers enables you to have a choice of wines by the glass without waste or deterioration. Still in the spirit of avoiding waste, you can even get a spring-loaded cap which will keep champagne and cava fizzy for a day or two – and that makes sense to me.

I've generally found most red and white wines will only last for about 24 hours after they're opened. Most will still be drinkable after that, but they're just not quite right.

Sherry and Port can be opened for over a month and still be fine (with a proper cork sealed back in). I've tasted Port that's been open for about 6 months and it was still excellent.

it depends how much is left in the bottle to be honest! and big burly reds like your Tim adams will last longer than a delicate white-the alcohol level plays a role!

Is there any truth to the 'old wives tale' I've heard that if you up-end a teaspoon in the neck of an open bottle of Champagne then it preserves the fizz overnight? Personally I've never had enough restraint to try this experiment.

There seems to be no special rule here except to say 'heavier' wines tend in general to be able to make it out to 2 days. What is interesting to me is that some fairly mediocre wines can suddenly surprise the day after opening

Teaspoons in champagne bottles do no good whatsoever. Those little bubbles will continue to float up and escape. A good rubber stopper will do the trick more effectively, then put the bottle in the fridge. Definitely drink within 24 hours.

For other wines, I usually use a vacuum system, but have recently bought a small can of inert gas. You puff this into the wine bottle and it sinks down forming a layer over the wine, protecting it from oxidation. It does not affect the taste. The one I bought is called Private Preserve and comes from Napa. It looks like a tin of hair spray. One can treats 120 bottles so it is good value. You can find it on the internet.

Sorry to be late - I've only just joined the Community! I felt I just have to question Hannah's opinion. I find that most of my friends are wine buffs and the only answer to how long a bottle will last is not long enough! Most of these wine lovers are also foodies and for them and me there is one golden rule - NEVER cook with any wine which you would not be happy to drink. Sorry Hannah but your advice, from experience, is not very good.

Not long in our house! - sorry I couldn't resist..
It will depend on the wine as others have pointed out. Re-corked, I wouldn't want to leave a nice red more than a couple of days.

If you are drinking an expensive bottle it just will not taste the same the next day. Cheapish Australian wine is usually OK to keep for a day or two.

Wine boxes are very good if you don't drink a lot. They keep your wine in good condition for weeks. It's a pity there is not so much good stuff in a box.

If I happen to open a very good wine (red or white) then I'd personally like to finish it off in a day, or two at best, just to make sure I get my value for money so-to-speak.

It really depends upon the quality of the wine - a quality wine will last longer than mediocre one - and a white wine kept well chilled will last longer than one that isn't - obviously.

And fortified wines generally last a bit longer too - I've tasted my Xmas port in March and it still tasted pretty nice.

I'm the only wine drinker in the house so usually a bottle will last over two nights with dinner. If drinking red i will generally use the vacuum system then i put the bottle in the fridge, take it out the next day a few hours before drinking again so it reaches the right temp. This keeps it as fresh as it can be, sometimes it even tastes better the next day depending on the quality of the wine.

Whites the same system only i can drink them straight out of the fridge the next evening.

I'm with Hannah, a couple of days is OK but wine isn't as fresh-tasting as it is when just opened. Teaspoon in bottle of fizz definitely doesn't work though!

I tend to find that cheaper bottles of wine actually taste better when left open for a day or so!

There is a great product called Private Preserve: it is an aerosol can of inert gasses which you spray into your open bottle. The gas settles on top of the wine protecting it from exposure to the air. It comes from Napa in California and they know a thing or two about wine over there!
Wine develops in the bottle in storage, then very rapidly once open, so the VacuVin stoppers with preserve it for a bit - 24 hours should be OK, longer for the gas canister.

Hi deborahhume, I have one of those inert gas bottles (Private
Preserve) and it seems to work pretty well. A little tricky to use at first but it does seem to keep the wine well after opening, a week is the longest I've left a gassed bottle and it was perfectly drinkable.

Generally though I use the Vacu Vin rubber stoppers and drink the next day.

I'm not sure, but this is an interesting question..I would say no longer than about 3/4 days though..that's the general rule I go by.

Personally I use a vacuum system combined with decanting into smaller bottles to prevent air from coming into contact with the wine. Even 1 week or so is not unheard of with such systems, but decanting is necessary into half or quarter bottles as VacuVin does not create a full vacuum, only a partial one. These preserve flavours pretty well too, but the wine still tastes best in the first 2 days and is drinkable after that.

Overheard this question being posed in local pub - the reply, tongue in cheek I think, was 'about half an hour'!