Half tonight; the remainder tomorrow night. Preservation?

[CFu]

I just put the bottle in the fridge. If I know the remainder will be drunk the next day, I don’t even bother with transferring it to a smaller container. If you want to protect the wine from oxidation, temperature is your friend, as all reactions slow down with temperature. Most likely there’s enough oxygen dissolved in the wine from transferring it to a smaller container that keeping the wine in the fridge in its original bottle offers more protection than having the wine in a smaller container at room temperature.

but what if you put that smaller container in the fridge…

I’m with Otto on this view. Been doing this for over 25 years with my regular, every day wines that I drink during the week. Pop and enjoy half of the bottle, shove the cork in, return the other half bottle to the regular fridge. Ok, sometimes I got back for another glass. Many times, especially with the younger winds, the wine is actually better than next day. I popped a young 2016 Bordeaux last night just to sample it, and I’m pretty confident that today it will show better. I have no doubt the transferring the wine to 375 could be better, assuming minimal oxygen exposure during that transfer, but that’s just way too much effort for my regular drinking. I think that we often geek out too much of our wine, storage and serving, and perhaps sometimes a more simple approach leads to greater enjoyment. Now all of that said, I certainly have a different approach with mature wines or very expensive ones. But even then, I don’t think I go to the degree that many of you all do on wine, and yeah perhaps I misse one percent of the wine’s potential, but who really knows.

It takes less than a minute. Then you aren’t forced to drink the same wine the next day.

I have 6-7 4oz sitting in my fridge that are sitting 3-4 weeks with no issues. Drink them whenever I feel like.

Of course since I’m a hard working partner 24/7 I don’t drink every night in case I have work to do

[John_Glas]

For those of you who generally open a bottle but don’t consume all of it that evening, leaving half a bottle or so to drink the next night, what have you found works well for preserving it so that it’s still good to go that second day? Years ago I would use Vacuvin stoppers, but over time I felt that product wasn’t working all that well for me and . . . well, in all honesty, I didn’t often have an open bottle with any wine in it by the end of that first night. So, any recommendations for products to preserve wine overnight? >

Depends on the age of the bottle. Most of what I drink is ten years or less in age and I do nothing. I have done extensive research with the 3 day approach and many of the reds I try are as good if not better on day 2 and 3.

[John_Glas]

I also just recork and put in the refrigerator. Some white wines, I drink over four days and they stay fine (young wines sometimes improve).

Agree with white wines improving if young. Most of the new world Chardonnays I drink get better on day 2.

[Otto_Forsberg]

It takes less than a minute. Then you aren’t forced to drink the same wine the next day.

I have 6-7 4oz sitting in my fridge that are sitting 3-4 weeks with no issues. Drink them whenever I feel like.

Of course since I’m a hard working partner 24/7 I don’t drink every night in case I have work to do

That is certainly true. It’s something I do only if I know I won’t be able to finish the same or the next day. Which isn’t very often and which is why I don’t see it worth the hassle if I know the wine is going to be drunk within the next 48 hours or so. However, I fully understand if one wants to play it safe and keep the wine good for longer periods of time.

However, every now and then I bottle tasting wines into tiny 1,75 oz bottles whenever I’m unable to attend tastings. Those bottles, in turn, I have in my fridge quite frequently.

[Philip_G]

I wouldn’t pour into another container as that will oxygenate it further but probably won’t make a difference if you open the next day.

I shoot some argon gas in before recorking it and putting in the cellar just in case I don’t get to it for a few days. This seems to keep it fresh for 2-3 days.

[J_D_o_v_e]

Half tonight and the other half whenever…

I used to do all of the above. Today, here is my set-up and why I really like it:

• Coravin hooked up to a food-grade Argon supply tank stored in a cabinet in my cellar; hose comes up through countertop
• Pour off a glass of one or more bottles (it’s often just me)
• Insert a toothpick into the pinhole that is created
• I’ve had a cellar for 25 years, so daily drinkers are often older and valuable
• This lets me do mini tastings by myself (open three vintages of Leoville Barton and drink them over a couple of weeks or compare several wines from a new vintage over a number of days)
• In my experience, especially for older bottles, this is the best method for drinking wine over several days

I use the set-up almost everyday and I’ve had the same tank since I moved my wine from off-site to the cellar a couple of years ago. Frankly, this is the best thing that happened to my wine hobby. Even older wines show perfectly fine over the 1 - 3 weeks I consume them.

One other thing — this set-up probably cost ~$300 all in. It has paid for itself many times over. I waste ZERO wine (unless it sucks and I don’t want to drink it). Fortunately, aside from corked bottles, that happens rarely.

[Barry_L_i_p_t_o_n]

Depending on the wine:

1. use a repour cork, definitely better results than a regular cork. Surprising, but true. And cheap
2. Even cheaper, but more of a pain, is Charlie’s suggestion of using boston rounds. I’m a convert, especially for special wines.

I thought that filling the bottles might oxygenate the wine, but seems to be minimal, I’ve been impressed with the results.

[Mont_Stern]

The easy and cheap method that offers the maximum protection against the wine advancing is, right after opening it, to pour a portion through a funnel into a smaller container all the way to the very top (an empty half wine bottle, a plastic water bottle, whatever) and put the cork or screw cap on. Even more if you then put that into the fridge.

I am a big fan of volumetric flasks with ground glass stoppers. No need to go to a chemistry supply house. Amazon has them. My favorite is 250ml.

[Mike_Kuller]

For overnight, Vac-u-Vin is ok but not as good as gas.

I use this - put it in the bottle, recork and put it in the refrigerator.

It will keep it tasting good for at least 4 days.

www.amazon.com/Private-Preserve-Wine-Preservation-Spray/dp/B0000DCS18/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1QKWTUXQZFUWX&dchild=1&keywords=wine+preserver+gas&qid=1606942733&sprefix=wine+preserve%2Caps%2C233&sr=8-5

[Chris_Seiber]

As evidenced by the thread, there is a range of opinions about whether wine – or the wines that the person in question tends to drink – do or do not diminish in enjoyability from day 1 to day 2+ when just left in the bottle and recorked, or maybe that plus put in the fridge.

For me, it depends on the wine itself, yet it is not always all that predictable in that regard. Most quality whites seem to work fine for a day or two just left in the bottle. Robust and younger reds of good quality seem to do so as well, but the results are not uniform for my palate. And those times that the next day wine isn’t very good anymore, that’s a pretty costly loss.

I usually use the Whetstone method just because (a) I’m too lazy, (b) I have way too much wine anyway, (3) I often open wine hastily in a rush of trying to get dinner done and on the table (I do almost all our cooking) and don’t really have time for the funneling operation, and (4) I often don’t know in advance when I open a bottle that I am going to save half for another day.

But if I had the energy and time for it, I’d probably use the half bottle method a lot more often. When the wine is diminished on day two, it’s a bummer, and kind of a costly loss given the price of things we drink.

[brianmcbrearty]

Chris’s strategy is undoubtedly the best and I keep a couple half-bottles around for this purpose, but rarely get out the funnel. I definitely can’t be bothered with vacuvins or gases. Had all the gear when I was starting out and drinking way plonkier plonk. Cork and fridge are good enough for me now.

[S_Rash]

I just put the bottle in the fridge. If I know the remainder will be drunk the next day, I don’t even bother with transferring it to a smaller container. If you want to protect the wine from oxidation, temperature is your friend, as all reactions slow down with temperature. Most likely there’s enough oxygen dissolved in the wine from transferring it to a smaller container that keeping the wine in the fridge in its original bottle offers more protection than having the wine in a smaller container at room temperature.

but what if you put that smaller container in the fridge…

I’m with Otto on this view. Been doing this for over 25 years with my regular, every day wines that I drink during the week. Pop and enjoy half of the bottle, shove the cork in, return the other half bottle to the regular fridge. Ok, sometimes I got back for another glass. Many times, especially with the younger winds, the wine is actually better than next day. I popped a young 2016 Bordeaux last night just to sample it, and I’m pretty confident that today it will show better. I have no doubt the transferring the wine to 375 could be better, assuming minimal oxygen exposure during that transfer, but that’s just way too much effort for my regular drinking. I think that we often geek out too much of our wine, storage and serving, and perhaps sometimes a more simple approach leads to greater enjoyment. Now all of that said, I certainly have a different approach with mature wines or very expensive ones. But even then, I don’t think I go to the degree that many of you all do on wine, and yeah perhaps I misse one percent of the wine’s potential, but who really knows.

100%

[Jim_Stewart]

I also think that recorking is probably good enough and works well. The only issue I had with recorking is that I would push the cork down halfway and occasionally break the cork when reopening. About a year ago, I switched to silicone wine stoppers as suggested on a WB thread. Those have worked out very well. I keep wine from a day or two to several days. I refrigerate. The wine generally holds on pretty well and sometimes seems to even improve.
P.S. These are the stoppers I got on Amazon: B229 Silicone Wine Bottle Stoppers, Set of 4, <$10

[Cris_Whetstone]

I should add that for me I am nearly always drinking that opened bottled the next day. I might employ something more careful like the half bottle or gassing wine if I was going to try to drink the bottle more than a day later. But personally, I just do not see wanting to do that. Seems like more of a hassle to track what I’ve opened that way. If I want something to drink and know I won’t be around the next night I usually just have beer.

[J_D_o_v_e]

I should add that for me I am nearly always drinking that opened bottled the next day. I might employ something more careful like the half bottle or gassing wine if I was going to try to drink the bottle more than a day later. But personally, I just do not see wanting to do that. Seems like more of a hassle to track what I’ve opened that way. If I want something to drink and know I won’t be around the next night I usually just have beer.

Everyone gets into different habits and obviously has different preferences. I used to be that way until I got the Argon tank, frankly. I used half bottles and the medical beakers with glass stoppers.

I find it really nice to have a glass of white, then a red, and if I am in the mood some Sauternes for dessert. At the moment, I have a 2014 Chablis, 2002 Muscadet, a 2019 Sancerre, a 2001 Bordeaux, a 2012 Rastau, and the last of a bottle of Bricco delle Viole to chose from when I go home. If we’re having Chinese, I want to open a Gewurtz and not drink the last of a bottle of Cab from last night. Also, what I found when I just put leftovers in the fridge without even moving to a half bottle was that a LOT of wine went down the drain. It is very rare that wine goes down the drain anymore unless I really just didn’t like it.

I make a point of this just to say I really didn’t appreciate how dramatically this set up would change the way I think about both the hobby and consuming wine. So, I’m just sharing — but, I get everyone’s different.

It’s not complex though. I have a counter that, at any given time, has 4 to 8 wines (standing upright) that I’m working through. They all get consumed within a 3-4 week period and most are gone the week I open them.

It’s nice to feel like I can open anything in the cellar and not feel guilty about it because I can get to it on my timeline — whether that means tomorrow or in three weeks… It’s also a lot of fun to go home and say — I want to compare A to B to C tonight. I’m going to do that this evening with some more 2016 Barolo.

Cheers.

[Barry_L_i_p_t_o_n]

I wouldn’t pour into another container as that will oxygenate it further but probably won’t make a difference if you open the next day.

I shoot some argon gas in before recorking it and putting in the cellar just in case I don’t get to it for a few days. This seems to keep it fresh for 2-3 days.

Many folks experience with Boston Rounds lately show that the oxygen from the pour doesn’t matter much. I also thought it wouldn’t work, but I’m a believer n ow.

2001 Hudellot Noellat Vosne Romanee Suchots was very fresh for several weeks.
1990 Gruaud Larose was great several days later (didn’t have enough to check longer).

[Terry_H_a_r_r_i_s]

Thanks to everyone for posting! I completely had forgotten the 375 routine, as it’s one I think I moved to once I gave up on the vacuvins. Too funny I had forgotten. Then again, I forget lots these days.

[Peter_Kleban]

Been through several steps here.

1. Tried Argon for a while. IIRC it didn’t work very well, but that was a long time ago and I might have forgotten.
2. Then half (or one third) bottles. The problem there is that you invariably end up with too much or too little for the small bottle, so some of it gets exposed to extra air anyway. Unless, of course, you fill up the small bottle first and then drink up what remains. But that always seemed too fussy. As did washing out the small bottles (yeah, I get lazy at times).
3. Vacuvin. This works reasonably well, I’ve found.
4. Repour. This is my all time favorite. Actually absorbs the oxygen from the air over the wine, so it really slows the “aging” down. Works for a day or two at least, and at times much longer–just finished a bottle (Fontodi Chianti) that had been on the counter with a Repour for two weeks. Hardly had changed. Cheap (about $1.60 each if you buy in bulk), easy, convenient. What’s not to like? Well, OK, if you want to keep the wine in the fridge, the Repour makes the bottle a bit taller than usual, so that can be an issue.

[Andrew_K]

Cork it and leave it on the counter.

But that’s usually daily drinkers. It isn’t often really good wines aren’t fully consumed. But if there is some left, I usually put them into Boston rounds and back into the cellar.

[CFu]

Been through several steps here.

1. Tried Argon for a while. IIRC it didn’t work very well, but that was a long time ago and I might have forgotten.
2. Then half (or one third) bottles. The problem there is that you invariably end up with too much or too little for the small bottle, so some of it gets exposed to extra air anyway. Unless, of course, you fill up the small bottle first and then drink up what remains. But that always seemed too fussy. As did washing out the small bottles (yeah, I get lazy at times).
3. Vacuvin. This works reasonably well, I’ve found.
4. Repour. This is my all time favorite. Actually absorbs the oxygen from the air over the wine, so it really slows the “aging” down. Works for a day or two at least, and at times much longer–just finished a bottle (Fontodi Chianti) that had been on the counter with a Repour for two weeks. Hardly had changed. Cheap (about $1.60 each if you buy in bulk), easy, convenient. What’s not to like? Well, OK, if you want to keep the wine in the fridge, the Repour makes the bottle a bit taller than usual, so that can be an issue.

that’s why i suggest 4oz ones. You know you aren’t gonna finish a bottle, so just pour it off to begin with. After awhile you’ll end up with a collection of em and then you won’t have to drink the same thing every night!