Storing 'Open' Red Wine in Fridge

Help! I am having problems storing open bottles of red wine in my fridge.

I am a solo drinker in my house, so normally I work on a bottle for two days, storing in the fridge with a wine stopper or cork overnight. My fridge is set for 38F.

I have not had any issues in the past, but often because I left about 3/4 of the bottle full day 1.

Over the last few weeks I opened two reds (a 2014 Joseph Roty Marsannay and a 2014 Château Hyot). Each time, I drank about 1/2 the bottle and stored the rest in the fridge (one ime with a cork, another time with a silicone stopper). Both times the wine developed a slight ‘alcohol wang’ on both the nose and palate. The wine also seemed thinner and far less complex /one dimensional on day 2.

Do I need to transfer rest of wine to a smaller 375 bottle to store overnight?

Is my fridge too cold?

Thanks
Mary

Not too cold. And yes to the 375 idea. I’d immediately pour off half into a screw-top half bottle and fill it all the way to the tippy-top.

Thank you

One more quarion: is there any truth to letting the wine get to fridge temp before openning? Both times wines were openned at cellar temp.

Mary - I am a great believer in minimizing the time the 375 is exposed to air before pumping and putting in the fridge. Seems to last longer. Not a guarantee, but works more often than not.

Of course too cold is, er, well, too cold. But how cold is that?

As long as you are not causing tartrates precipitate out, I’d say colder is better, as the lower the temperature the slower the oxidation. In fact, I doubt tartrate precipitation is too much of a problem.

I have never heard that, and cannot imagine why you should do it.

I just use the original bottles. I think you introduce even more oxygen to the wine when you pour it into another vessel.

Thank y’all for the responses…makes for for interesting reading.

I can’t remember where I heard about openning red wine at fridge temp…will try to remember where I read it.

Eric - I used to have no problems storing in the original bottle…but lately it has been a problem since I am drinking more wine on the first day.

I will try the half bottle with screw cap trick next time

this is my thought as well.

if you are drinking them over two days for 2014s, it seems really unlikely that they died on you overnight corked in the fridge.

but if youre really concerned about it, definitely consider a coravin

Matt - It did seem odd since both wines were so young. I was really flabbergasted the second time. Wouldn’t sa that the wine was corked but falling apart, loss of depth, and the alcohol becoming more prominant.

I suppose a Coravin is probably in the future.

thats interesting. I will say ive had a few younger wines recently (2014 bordeaux) that were good on night 1 after a double decant, but had the same feel like they had fallen apart on night two (i use a vacuum stopper but no fridge), but then night 3/4 were actually the best of the whole run. i had wondered if the oxygen exposure just caused the young wines to shut down and they needed a little more to re-open for business again. if this happens again, try forgetting about it for a day or two and see if its better?

You could also try those repour wine saver stoppers.

I can’t explain the good showing on days 3 and 4, but I find the vacuum devices kill the wine. I assume it’s because they promote evaporation of aromas. I found they were OK with a bottle that was, say, three-quarters full, but below that they took a big toll on the wine. At room temperature, there would also be more evaporation that if you’d kept them in a fridge.

Look folks - just because it is a younger vintage does NOT mean that it will continue to ‘evolve’ over a few day period. It’s one of the questions I get asked most by consumers - how long will this wine stay good after opening?

Unless you know the chemical and structural breakdown of the wine, along with the amount of free SO2 and dissolved O2 levels, plus lots of other stuff we don’t even know, there is no way to know in advance - and this even includes second bottles of the same wine you had a specific experience with.

I put my own wines back into my wine fridge, do not add O2, and tighten the screw caps. I have found that my own wines continue to ‘evolve’ for anywhere between 2 and 5 days - and sometimes even longer - without degradation. Is this because of the screw cap closure? Is this because of the way my wines are made? I don’t know for sure.

If I open wines under cork and do not finish them, I do the 375 transfer and put them into a regular fridge - has worked well for me and I do not believe that the transfer from the regular bottle to the 375 introduces much O2 - but have never ‘measured’ this so it’s just a guess . . . as is a lot of this stuff in all honesty

Cheers

Many wines improve after 24 hours in the fridge. Some a lot.
Many wines do not.
I rarely find improvement in a young burgundy after being open 24h

I’ve heard of alcohol wang, though never after only half a bottle of wine. Best of luck in your quest for answers.

Seriously though I think the 375 works okay, and typically same bottles is fine for just overnight. That said, I sometimes get oxidized flavors even with 375, and even overnight, and I seldom find improvement overnight as some here seem to find quite regularly. As others say, undesirable features can be amplified when a wine is too cold.

Whether it oxidizes has a lot to do with what kind of wine it is. Grenache is prone to oxidation; cabernet and syrah, not so much. And I’ve had Northern Rhones (syrah) show some signs of volatile acidity (vinegar) after 24 hours in the fridge, presumably because of primitive/rustic cellar conditions.

I was going to suggest this as well to Mary. I have the same issue (opening a bottle solo and wanting it to last for several nights) and the Repour stoppers work great for me.