Pulled from this recent thread, I wanted to address some options for what I find myself increasingly frustrated with since Jen isn’t drinking wine much anymore…how to preserve half a bottle of wine. My go-to has been pouring the rest into a 375ml, but I’m increasingly convinced I’m doing more damage that way than just leaving it in the bottle with a cork.
I have a Coravin Timeless which I love for finer bottles when I want a single glass — that’s a different situation. This situation is more about the already-opened everyday bottle I want to revisit 2-3 days later.
I’ve used Private Preserve and Repour with decent results but haven’t done any real side-by-sides. Curious what people here are actually doing and whether anyone has real experience — not marketing claims — that something works notably better than others for that 1-3 day window.
Plenty of old threads on the topic, but also plenty of new technologies and products have emerged since then. Clearly there is insane consumption on this community, and I can’t be the only one who doesn’t polish a whole bottle of wine by him/herself!
This may just be syntax, but do not pour “the rest” into 375; I pour it in as soon as I uncork the 750. Hence, the 375 is full before I take the first sip of what’s left in the 750.
So far, so good . . .
My preferred approach is a 375ml screw cap bottle.
I opem the 750ml bottle then immediately slowly and gently fill the 375ml bottle to the VERY top. Then put the screw cap back and put back in the cellar.
I have had excellent results with this approach. For me the trick is to save the 375ml 1st and it must be a screw cap (basically no head space at all)
This is not a recommendation but an interesting experience. About 3-1/2 years ago I had about 1/3 of a bottle of 1999 Texier Cote Rotie left after a tasting so I stuck a Repour in it and left it on the counter to drink later that week. I never got to it and it became a permanent fixture on my counter. A few weeks ago I finally got sick of seeing it there so I pulled the Repour out and poured a glass to see what it turned into. To my amazement, while it had declined somewhat, it was still drinkable. I don’t intend to try to replicate the unintentional experiment, but the result was impressive.
Any keeper system will do that.
This method just seems to do a better job than others I’ve tried.
Always pour the 375 to the lip (no head space).
Then immediately, either back in your cooler or the fridge until time to open (if in the fridge, take it out and let it sit unopened until the temp is right for you).
I think Jim and Brodie’s method is about as good as you will get. Pouring gently into another bottle probably isn’t aerating the wine that much.
But as I think about it, maybe your thinking that what’s left in the bottle is even better (if you accept my claim that slow-ox doesn’t do much). The wine poured into a second bottle is definitely splashing around more than what’s left in the original bottle.
My own experience is that whites hold up very well, I just keep what’s left in the fridge in the original bottle. Younger reds maybe not quite as good, though that varies. Again, I just keep the bottle in the fridge.
Repour. They are cheap if you buy them on Berserker Day. I guess you know that.
I usually pour the wine into a 375, Repour, and then fridge. When I use the wine in the next few days and forget to unfridge early, I microwave the 375 (I learned that trick, among others, from Pat Martin).
I did 1/2 bottle for years but a friend turned me on to Flip-Top bottles.
They have a rubber seal and they come a variety of sizes 12 oz (1/2 btl), 8 oz, 6 oz …
I have also used small screw top “airplane” style bottles - 5 oz I think.
I agree with previous poster, the key is fill to the brim and refrigerate.
Pat
If you have a cold fridge, or a cold section in your fridge, I find you lose little if anything over a day or two. For young wines, they can be better the next day.
I usually have an extra screw cap bottle laying around, if I know i won’t finish the wine, I pour what I wont drink into the screw cap and put into the fridge. Depending on how old the wine is, it is usually fine for a few days. And sometimes gets even better the following day.
To echo what Dan sort of said, I think it depends on the wine. Young bold reds seem to often improve over a couple of days. 40 years ago I just did the half bottle thing and always felt it worked well up to several weeks for the young Bords I was drinking at the time. Vacu Vin seems to work a bit - never bought a Coravin but I think there is a reasonable argument that pouring the wine from one container to another does the most to disturb the wine so a lot of rationale for the Coravin.
You would think there is some evidence based data to address this question! Which is sort of the question - what have we learned over the last 50 years?
I do what others have expressed with the 375s, but I use the little 4 oz bottles (which is basically a small glass). Pour it all they way to the top then put back in cellar or, for whites, refrigerator. Obviously oxygen hits the wine during the pour, but when you recap the mini bottle there’s basically no oxygen in the wine because it’s filled to the top. I also pour softly so it doesn’t create a bunch of bubbles in the small bottle. Whether I’m right or not on the science, I’ve gone back to wines over a month or sometimes more later and they have been great.
The concept would be the same with 375s, but I don’t have the 375s handy and plus I kind of like being able to just grab a single glass sometimes a few nights later.
I don’t think I’d do this with particularly old/fragile wines, but with young wines and even wines 10-15 years from vintage I’ve had a great success rate with this method.
Yup, used repour in the past, hundreds of times, for a full bottle, not pouring into the 375ml - the issue remains with the 375ml, that nearly ALL of the wine is exposed to oxygen in that pouring from the 750 to the 375, so putting a neutralizer like Repour on it seems superfluous, no? Furthermore, the only place a full bottle fits with a Repour is in the door, so every time the fridge is opened, it’s jostled, presumably stirring more wine to the surface of air.
Several suggest closures other than cork - why? Why flip-top bottles, or screw-cap bottles, if it’s only sitting in there for 1-3 days?
I’m still team Boston Round, in the fridge. Three 4oz ones hold half a regular bottle, and give me great flexibility in the following days. Can even pass as 100ml container in carry on, at a glance…
Yeah, legendary, and I also have those bottles, but that’s for legitimate, high end wine! I don’t have a siphon, and it seems like I’m going WAY overboard to get out a siphon, a spare bottle, then clear both thereafter once finished…to preserve half a bottle of $40 wine
