How to Store Wine

I was recently asked about preserving wine at home. I rarely have to worry about storing an unfinished bottle of wine, because wine does not go unfinished in my house. But, I might be an exception, so here are a few tips on storing open wine at home.

Most people are content to have a glass or two at home during the week and save the fancy stuff for the weekend. If this is the case, you probably don’t need to worry about fancy ways to store your open wine, other than putting the cork back in. Most wines will change overnight and beyond, but won’t be ruined by the next day. A bottle should last about 2 days.

But what about preserving fancy wine?

Unless you have the dough and are willing to drop a lot of money on a top end Eno-matic machine or something similar, you should know that none of the devices work as well as they promise. A good although pessimistic rule of thumb is that they work about a third as well as they claim. For a product that claims that you can store wine for up to 3 weeks, expect to get about a week out of it.

The real enemy of wine is oxygen. Once a bottle of wine is open, oxygen gets in the bottle and starts…well…oxidizing the wine. Unless you can successfully remove all the oxygen that is now mixed with your wine, there isn’t much else you can do. Most systems are designed to stop or slow that mixing temporarily.

The two most common methods of preserving wine are the gas systems and the vacuum pumps.

The gas canisters are like an aerosol can of a relatively inert gas mixture, injected into the bottle to form a seal to protect the wine from further oxygen mixing. Typically, a nitrogen/argon mix seals the wine and when you pour the next glass, the mixture leaves the bottle harmlessly. When you are ready to reseal your wine, simply spray more into the bottle.

I used to like the gas system and while it does work, I find that the wine tastes a bit stale initially, as the preserving agent effectively removes the nose and aromatics of the wine. If you use this system, perhaps pour a little wine down the drain before pouring the preserving gas mixture into your wine glass.

The vacuum pump draws air out of the bottle and a special reusable stopper seals the bottle until next time. A clever device, it does help a little and will keep wine for about 2 to 3 days. Furthermore, the pump is fairly cheap and the stoppers can be reused.

Finally, you can try transferring wine from its original bottle to a rinsed smaller or split bottle (around 375ml) for storage. The reduced surface area and the smaller package helps keep the wine in better shape. Also, the smaller bottle takes up less space on the counter or in the fridge.

In a nutshell, do what makes you happy. Enjoy your wine and don’t feel too guilty about not getting around to finishing the bottle. But if you need to hang on to the bottle an extra day or two, these handy devices and tricks will help you get the most out of your wine.

Cheers!