Leaving wine open till next day and it tastes better ?

WINE TALK
21

I very often find that serious young reds are better on day 2 if I’ve refrigerated them. I think leaving them out at room temperature risks losing a lot of aromatics, and you can get substantial oxidation at room temperature with many wines; even noticeable VA.

22

Really depends on the wine. I rarely finish off a bottle in one night. But my experience has been that cheaper “big” wines are almost always better the 2nd or 3rd night. Though I use one of those hand pump and seals. It usually mellows out the alcoholly heat of these cheaper wines and balances it out. Though this is according to my palate.

For more balanced wines, which usually tend to be more expensive, my personal experience is that it starts to go down hill after the 1st day. Slightly down hill on the 2nd day and noticeably on 3rd or 4th.

23

But are you talking about leaving it out at room temperature?

From tasting off bottles in restaurants and wineries that have been opened a day or two, I think the odds of improvement are against you at room temperature.

24

You drink a lot of Bordeaux Neal, and I totally agree. A Bordeaux of any size level is always better the first day for my tastes.

25

And I would definitely say the same thing about Burgundy…

26

For me they always go back into the cooler or frig. I would never leave it at room temp.

27

A sure sign of a crappy wine is if it can’t go more than a day… [snort.gif]

Just kidding of course. Seems like humor sometimes gets lost in translation on this board lately.

28

Not sure what to say about this…as a generalization.

But,

  1. It depends on what you do to the wine to prepare it for day 1, how it shows on day 2.
  2. It depends on what you are looking for ultimately, ie, what you value in a wine. Since I’m looking for good fruit combined with complexity and mellow character, I often find a wine better the “second day”. I think the air simulates aging, and I think most of us drink Burgundies and other wines (Nebbiolo, Bordeaux. Rhones, Alsace riesling, chardonnay wines-- these are the ones Im familiar with) too young to get that effect.
  3. It depends on the age of the wine; how long it needs to be “mature” in the first place. I’m not looking for primary fruit/characteristics. To me that’s a waste to find/look for in an ageable wine. That’s why we pay a premium: for its aging potential (and rarity, of course.)
  4. And, it depends on whether you’re tasting a wine alone or having it with food.

Example:

Last night I opened a 2000 Pommard Rugiens from deMontille. It smelled nice, tasted ok, seemed a bit closed. I aerated it for 4-5 hours and tasted it. It was ok/good. With the rich and piquant chicken dish I made, though, the wine was superb (and made my wife exclaim “why don’t we drink more Pommard”! We don’t drink much.) After dinner, I tasted it again…without the food. The wine was good, but nowhere near as good as it was with the food. This morning, before work, I tasted it again to write up a note. The wine was more like it was with the food, as a result, I think, of being left in bottle at room temp(pretty cold, though) overnight. Tasting it alone, it finally got where I had hoped it would be…alone…and it’s , to me, on the cusp of maturity…now. I will have a taste tonight again, but suspect it will be as good/better alone. It might not be as good were I to have the chicken leftovers, as what made it good with chicken: good fruit and good structure, might not be what makes it good to taste alone: good fruit and mellowed (from aeration[or age] structure.

So…we have to be clear what we mean when we (and I say it often) a wine is “better” the next day.

I do think most rieslings from Alsace and most white Burgs…and almost all Chablis and Viognier…can “taste” better alone the next day. They all need lots of aeration to be at their best. But, pairing them with food, especially assertive food, and then evaluating the wine in that context is a very different analysis, IMO.

I’m evaluating wines the “next day” exclusively as “wine” alone…in the morning when my buds are at their best and when I have no interest in drinking the wine (rather than tasting) and certainly no interest in pairing it with food. That, I think, tells me most about the wine itself, which is really my only interest. I frequently find the wine itself better than I found the wine itself the previous day.

29

Thanks for all the great replies. I should have clarified I was mostly talking about reds.

I would definitely try this with the few specific bottles people recommended. But, it is good to know I didn’t miss much from not leaving bottle open long enough.

30

Funny how this happens. Here is a great example, to which Greg T earlier in the thread touched on, re: Petite Sirah. This wine was humming along great after 3 days open and I suspect it would be fine if I had pushed it over another few more days.

  • 2012 Switchback Ridge Petite Sirah Peterson Family Vineyard - USA, California, Napa Valley (2/26/2015)
    Well, I seem to be the only guy drinking these right now so I trust these notes will help those who start thinking about drinking their first bottle. This is my second since release, and I opened this bottle on Tuesday, today is Thursday. The bottle has sat under open cork since we opened it (no decant), when we drank only half of it two night ago. At that time, I found the wine not only with some heat but also pretty tight. Tonight, the wine has a slight chill, serving temp about 68. Listed at 16.5%. Darkly colored, Switchback opaque, really. The wine tastes significantly better today as opposed to 48 hours ago, with a much better depth of fruit. Bitter chocolate fruit and tightening some on the finish, which I enjoy. I put another pour into the glass…man, this stuff is so dark, classic SR petite. Inky, iron and full of dark fruit, with a roasted, coffee espresso note, the red fruited quality that I find in really good brewed espresso. Even some acidity here, which lies underneath the dark fruit. The heat tonight? I don’t find it like I did 2 nights ago, even with this level of listed ABV. As this sits, as it unfolds, this starts to remind me a lot of the 2005, which has been in my view the best SR petite made since the first vintage in 1999. This may rally that vintage for depth, color and polish. As for drink window, I’d say decant this really well. This bottle has been open about 2 1/2 days and shows no sign of any fade, and in fact, it is better with this level of air, which to me speaks to its aging ability. I still think for what petite can be and what I want for it, that Switchback is the best CA petite out there.

Posted from CellarTracker

31

Yeah Frank, Petite Sirah has a way of holding back doesn’t it? I popped a very young blend over the weekend and it could have been open 5 days and still not come all the way around. Re-corked with no preservation and left on countertop. Some of you guys must only drink aged wines. I, on the other hand, do not have the budget to be able to let wines sit that long.

  • 2012 Longtable Forks on the Left - USA, California, Napa Valley, Mt. Veeder (3/2/2015)
    Opened on a Saturday and followed for 3 evenings. Found this on a recent visit to ACME in St Helena. 27% Petite Sirah, 24% Syrah, 20% Grenache, 13% Counoise, 12% Mourvèdre and 4% Viognier from Mt Veeder. Sounded like an interesting mix.
    Upon opening the Viognier was evident on the nose but it was all floral. Big and structured like another Mt Veeder wine I really enjoy L-M Syrah. Very aggressive swirling didn’t do much to help this along so I put the cork back in the bottle after a couple pours and revisited the next night. On day two this was still wound up but the PS was showing some menthol and the Mourvèdre was starting to blossom. On day 3 the palate softened up a bit and exhibited some iron, pepper and roasted meat. Lots of pepper on the finish along with chewy tannins.
    I would suggest a double decant and then 24hr slow-ox if you want to try it now, otherwise let it sit for 5 years.

Posted from CellarTracker

32

I’m not experienced as a lot of guys on here, but I have on several occasions seen dramatic improvements in wines on Day 2/3.

For example, in order to help decide whether or not I wanted to buy some Anthill 2013 Pinot, I opened up a bottle of the 2012 Campbell Ranch. On day 1, it had a really stemmy/green flavor that I didn’t care for and the fruit was pretty muted. On day 2, that turned into green flavor turned into a beautiful earthiness and the fruit was much more prominent. I wasn’t planning on buying any after day 1, but day 2 convinced me to buy a case :slight_smile:

Also, I have almost always enjoyed my Reynvaan and Cayuse syrahs more on day 2/3.

One thing to note - I do not leave them open at room temperature. I do keep the wines in the refrigerator and corked.

33

I do this often without deliberately setting out to do so - usually when I open a bottle on a Tuesday night and, not wanting to drink the whole bottle, drink it over 2-3 days.

To generalize, older wines are more likely to fall over in this time, so its not recommended. For example, I opened a bottle of 2003 Ch Barde Haute and found that the half left in the bottle had pretty much oxidised overnight. However for younger wines, particularly tannic wines like nebbiolos, 24 hours open in the bottle can help the wine open up, soften and become more expressive.

Since the original poster asked for a sub-$50 wine that he could try this out on, I recently opened a 2011 Passopisciaro and found it hard going on night 1. After decanting back into the bottle, I found it to be softer and much more open on day 2 and 3. This is a $36 wine, and should be (relatively) easy to get hold of.

34

For me, 95% of all wine tastes worse on Day 2. That’s why I love my Coravin!

35

+1 what he said. Rarely, something very young and painfully tannic will show better on day two.

36

Looks like from what everyone is saying is; New World wines do develop over a couple days, and Old World wines rarely do. Ditto from young to old.

Is it the residual sugar levels?

37

I often drink a partial bottle, recork overnight (usually on counter at room temp) and finish the next day. Sometimes they last until day three. In my personal experience, which is mostly domestic, its about a 50/50 shot as to whether day 1 or day 2 is better. Day 3 is almost always the worst. Generally, although not nearly always, Pinot has a better chance of being a better day 1/worse day 2 wine, and Syrah/blends and Zin have a slightly better chance of being a better day 2 wine. Cab seems close to 50/50. Just my experience for my palate.

38

With the caveat that I put the opened bottle in the refrigerator.

Rarely (but it does happen) with reds. Most often with “traditional” Loire producers. Though this may be a reflection of what I drink most often

Often with young German Riesling.

39

An open bottle always lasts two days for us. We cork and refrigerate overnight.

My cellar is on the younger side, and skews European. I find that that younger euro red wines, (especially if I have opened them a year or two too early) often show better on night two.

Chinon can take on weight and shed some youthful shrillness (a 2012 Alliet Chinon last week was best on night 3).
Gamay can lose some excessive fruitiness and become more savory on day 2.
Chianti can develop complexity and the acidity and the tannins often sit down a bit on day two. (2010 Monsanto CCR a case in point)
Agree with Sean above that Pinot often shows less well on day 2. However, a Roty Marsannay Ouzeloy 2008 that was shut down tight on day one was nice and giving by day four a few months ago.
Rioja can lose some of its excessive acidity and develop a rounded complexity. A 2001 LDH Reserva a few months ago was ok on day one, with somewhat too much acidity. By day two it was really beautiful though.

I don’t decant as often as I should, so that probably plays into the above.

40

[scratch.gif]