Reds: Almost always best on day one, with sufficient air. Very rarely, I’m surprised to find leftovers of a young and tough red better on day two. When that happens I often wonder whether the wine was truly better or whether food, state of mind, etc., have come into play. I’m sensitive to oxidized flavors in reds. If I can taste any at all I don’t care for it. More often, however, the wine will simply taste more flat and lacking edge. Interestingly, I am as likely to find that rare improved wine on day two out of a bottle simply left on the counter as I am from one placed into a smaller container with no air and a tight seal. I tried that for years in 375 or Boston rounds and ultimately found it was not enough benefit to be worth the effort.
Whites: much different story. Younger whites I find hold well in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, sometimes more. Pradikat Riesling seems to hold up the best, especially those with higher RS.
I keep rereading the posts about wine being better on day 2 and 3, and how you can use that to evaluate the wine’s aging potential, to see if one of those is a sock account for John Glas.
de Negoce Dry Creek Valley Cab, OG N.32 Night 1 was fantastic. Night 2, flat. Guess I’ll be storing half in a 375 for the 2nd night.
And, I’ll guess N.32 is a drink sooner rather than later. It’s a 2018.
I tend to agree. If I am buying a bottle at a restaurant I will always buy the full bottle. I don’t now how long a bottle would be open if purchasing by a glass. We have a wine bar here that lets you purchase pours. The bottles are all in machinery that is supposed to keep air out, but I am not sure how much I trust all of it.
For me personally I prefer to drink bottles the first day. I have found that Rieslings tend to hold up over a day or 2 much better than red wines. I have had Rieslings a full 24 hours later just sitting out that still tasted great and lively. I think it depends on the wine. However, others on here will have way more experience than myself.
I didn’t take serious notes but it’s fresh and just fine and how I remembered it on day 1. I am ordering less BTG reds at restaurants, especially if they’re not keeping them in a cooler. The ox/turned crappy wine in the bottle from the day (or hours) before too often outnumbers the good wine from a recently opened bottle.
I have just been drinking a Hermann Ludes, Kabinett ‘Monster’ 2022 over three days. It was certainly best on day three.
I am much more careful when it comes to certain wines with age on them. But again it depends on what wine it is. There are certainly older Syrah and Nebbiolo that can keep up for more than a day.
I recently had 2020 Myriad Dr Crane on day 2 and 3.
On the first day I decanted for about 30 minutes and poured it back in the bottle at 1:00. At 7:00 I decanted it at the restaurant for roughly 90 minutes. When I got home I gassed it.
On day 2 I poured a glass and did not gas.
I finished the bottle on day 3 and to my surprise, I enjoyed that glass the most.
I always ask for a taste, whether I am a regular or not. Many restaurants pour tastes as part of the service, whether asked or not. Same as they do bottles.
When I have more time, I’ll recount an experience at Babbo.
Found it from a previous post:
I’ve told this story here before. Some years ago at Babbo, I ordered a 1/4 bottle from a magnum or 3L of Produttori del Barbaresco that was mostly empty when they poured my carafe. One sniff, and it was clearly and horribly corked. My rejection of the wine resulted in a hushed, intense discussion amongst the wine staff at their station, with the sommelier clearly distressed. He came over to the table, apologized profusely, and ordered another large format bottle to serve me from. After opening a new bottle, he rejected it and opened another bottle, which he accepted. The wine was sound and very good. As we chatted, he stated that his distress was caused by the fact that 3/4 of the corked bottle had been served and consumed with neither any of his staff nor any of the patrons served having noticed. He was bothered that his staff of wine servers couldn’t tell that the bottle was corked and kept the now two partial large format bottles to use as examples of tca infected wine for purposes of staff instruction.
The number of corked bottles I’ve opened from both the Northern and Southern Rhone drove me crazy. Literally, it fucked with my head, as I reached a point where I was thinking about it whenever I pulled a cork.
2020 Valo Cabernet
PnP Day 1 drank a glass in about 45 minutes, and it was getting better as we drank it.
Day 2 Better.
However, we’re missing a lot of data points. Could be best after a 1-hour decant.
