So I thought I’d add to the never-ending debate on alternative closures with some observations I’ve been having over the last week.
Over the last couple of months when opening wines, instead of recorking them or using fresh T-stoppers in them, I have been pouring the leftovers into screwcap and vino-lok bottles.
I have been using a full-size screwcap and vino-lok as well as two half-size screwcap bottles. I am finding that with the sole exception of sparkling wines (the gas will escape no matter how you seal the bottle), screwcaps and vino-loks are by far the absolute best at preserving opened wine.
The truest test have been the two wines I have opened most recently, a Recioto and a Vintage Port. These two types of sweet wines are notorious for losing their flavor if held over two days. With recioto you particularly notice the cocoa and tobacco flavors drop as the tannins fade out due to oxidation and you are left with basically sweet red cherry syrup. Vintage Port, on the other hand, just simply fades and fades until it becomes flat and dull.
In both of these cases, the flavors remained just as strong and vibrant as when I opened them. I am particularly amazed that the recioto has kept up the strong level of tannins as when I first opened it.
The Vino-Lok has worked particularly well on white wines such as Spatleses and Ausleses and Alsacian Pinot Gris wines. It is now my go-to bottle for storing away white wine in the fridge.
Look, here’s basically the deal as far as I’m concerned. Corks are for wines you want to age over a long time but still drink while you’re still alive. Period. Screwcaps and vino-loks are for daily drinking and sweet wines that you want to taste as close to out of the barrel as you can get or wines you intend to pass on because they ensure there is very little variation to the wine over the long term.
I don’t get what you’re doing, Tran. If the bottles aren’t full, there is plenty of air in there to oxidize the wine, no matter how you close them (unless you pump it out, but it’s physically impossible to pump out more than a fraction). The only way to keep the O2 away is to fill the new bottle (a half bottle for ex) completely, ie no ullage, or to put N2 into the bottle.
Sorry guys, let me clarify what I’m doing here. To place this in context, I am talking about wines I have on a weekday basis with dinner by myself, not sharing with friends:
With white wines just opened, I usually just have a glass or two. The rest goes immediately into a cleaned vino-lok. Of course, more oxygen goes in the bottle as the level goes down but I am finding overall the vino-lok helps preserve the wine to a decent level far beyond the one week I expect.
With the reciotos and fortified muscats I’ve had, which usually come in half-bottles (but not always, some from Greece, Massandra and Portugal come in full-size bottles), I simply have my one glass for dessert and this immediately goes into a clean screwcap half-bottle. Again, more oxygen goes in as it goes down, but since it goes down at a slower level, I’m finding the screwcap helps it last well into 3 weeks or more.
With the rare full-size red wine bottle, I use the full-size screwcap for storing.
Vintage Ports are tricky because they usually come in full bottles and need to be decanted. So what I do is decant into a Pyrex glass measuring cup (no fancy decanter required, thank you). I then pour this into TWO half-size screwcap bottles. I polish off one bottle normally and then the next. Depending on how fast I go through the first half bottle which I find doesn’t really lose anything over the next two weeks. That 2nd screwcap bottle of Vintage Port theoretically should be toast… but instead is just as good as the first 3-5 weeks later. Of course, the displacement of the oxygen helps as well, I am sure, in that case.
Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that there is nothing going on here in the bottles at all. Of course there is. I’m just finding that screwcaps and vino-loks do absolutely incredible jobs of helping unconsumed wine last far longer than they normally would have if merely stored with a cork or T-stopper in place.
I find most white wines, more acidic ones I tend to prefer anyway, last well in the fridge for days without any other preservation techniques.
Red wines not always so much, but gas works and there’s no temp issue of refridging or freezing.
Sparkling? For a day or two I think champagne stoppers are marvelous.
Ports? Some last for days and open up well, though some don’t and all turn flat after enough time. I don’t drink Madeira for this reason, but it sure helps that it lasts and lasts.
I always figured decanting/transferring to anther vessel unless gassed would add more o2 to the wine than just refrigerating in its original container. You could use a small diameter racking tube to transfer with much less o2 pickup.
An old italian once told me to exhale into the bottle a few times to increase the amount of co2 in the bottle. I do prefer inert gas as I have a beer fridge keg system and just have an extra outlet that we use to gas any partials we have though we don’t have them often. There are many options on getting some small amounts of co2 for home use that won’t break the bank.
Have people found the gas preservation methods to really work? Intuitively it makes sense to me but I’ve never tried it or talked to anyone in person who’s tried it.
The no ullage plus screwcap method works very well - better than anything else I’ve tried (including pumps, gas,etc.). It’s not immortal, but it’s a couple of weeks. I open, pour off gently into a screwcapped bottle (I use old Perrier bottles) to the very top, and drink the rest. It’s much easier to get to no ullage with a screwcap than anything else.
It’s hard to believe that, if there is ullage, a screwcap or Glass-Lok will be much better than a cork over a short (week or so) period, since not much O2 should penetrate.
Since its what is used in the winemaking process for partial tanks and barrels I am positive it works.
Generally you fill the empty container with gas, purge lines with gas, fill container, then top off any head space with gas weekly or so.
Presumably you would be able save on the amount of gas you might use. I would think that pouring it into a different storage vessel would aerate the wine even further as stated earlier. Probably best to leave it in the original bottle and use a bit more gas. (Relatively speaking, the cost is negligible considering the cost of the wine).
I continue to find the best solution is to find as small a bottle that will leave as little head space as possible and transfer into that and store in the fridge. Truly works best for nearly every wine - older delicate wines and champagne are really the exceptions. Yes, you aerate the wine by transferring, but man o man, wine is a heck of a lot more durable than most people think . . .
I agree with Andrew H and Larry S – immediate transfer into a very full 375ml is the best way to preserve wine for day 2+. To get added protection, refrigerate the 1/2 bottle. I doubt it matters what type of closure the 375 has – the amount of oxygen transfer through the cork in a couple of days is beyond negligible.
Corks are for wines you want to age over a long time but still drink while you’re still alive > while hoping that your wine hasn’t been ruined by a flawed cork> . Period. Screwcaps and vino-loks are for daily drinking and . . .
all other wines.
A few minor edits.
I agree with Larry completely. Been doing it for years. Pour immediately into a 1/2 bottle and refrigerate. I’ve had appointments to show wine but didn’t want to kill a bottle, so I’ve done the half bottle thing and then taken the rest of it out a few days later and I was able to show people decent wine instead of a wine that had been opened for a few days.
And as Vincent said, the acidic whites seem to hold up much better. I had no expectation one way or another years ago, but after doing it for a few years I realized that the whites really were more stable and often I didn’t even bother with putting them into 1/2 bottles.
The key is the fridge. As pointed out, you’ll add air by pouring, but keeping the wine cold slows whatever adverse reaction you’re likely to get. I’ve done it with many dozens, maybe even hundreds, of bottles over the years.
Of course, if you have a gas method, that’s pretty cool too. I never used one first hand tho.