December 2006
What to do with leftover wine?
Just put a cork in it
UNNECESSARY EQUIPMENT There’s no clear need for Vacu-Vin Vacuum Wine Saver and other wine-preservation systems, our tests suggest. Wine that was
corked and refrigerated didn’t noticeably deteriorate in a week or so.
It’s a problem that’s as old as wine itself: The imbibing is over for the evening, but there’s good wine left in the bottle.
Since wine’s flavor is so delicate, how best to preserve it for another night?
A lot of people turn to wine-preservation systems that seek to retard or stop oxidation, the chemical process that degrades wine. If you’re among those who swear by such systems, we have surprising news, based on our tests of four widely known brands: No system beat simply recorking the bottle and sticking it in the fridge.
Getting the air out. With the Wine Enthusiast Private Preserve, $10, you spray nitrogen into the bottle, then stopper it. The Vacu-Vin Vacuum Wine Saver, $10, uses rubber stoppers (two are provided) with a pump that sucks out air. WineKeeper, $100, and Pek Wine Steward, $100, use nitrogen and argon gas, respectively, to displace air and so keep it from touching the wine.
We tested three varietals with the systems on three different occasions for three different periods of time. For comparison, we also stoppered one bottle with its own cork. After all the bottles spent time in our wine cellar, expert wine consultants compared their contents in blind taste tests with freshly opened bottles.
Graceful aging. The connoisseurs found few differences between the stored and new bottles. The chardonnay, stored for 10 days, tasted pretty uniform; one judge wondered if it had all come from the same bottle. There was a noticeable variation between the new bottle of cabernet sauvignon and bottles that had been stored for eight days, though testers still said new and old bottles were still “more similar than different.” The zinfandel, stored for 22 days, had aged badly with all storage methods.
If our trained experts, with nearly 60 years in the business, couldn’t discern among wine storage systems, most consumers probably can’t, either. So just go ahead and cork it (you can turn the cork over if it’s easier to get in). But try not to wait more than a week or so to drink the wine, and sooner is better.
Fresh alternatives. Two up-and-coming trends in wine packaging offer ways to avoid unfinished bottles. Some wines, including the Stone Cellars by Beringer chardonnay we tested for this report, come in quarter-sized, 187-ml bottles. And more premium wines are now available in boxes, which remain airtight after opening.
A lot of people turn to wine-preservation systems that seek to retard or stop oxidation, the chemical process that degrades wine. If you’re among those who swear by such systems, we have surprising news, based on our tests of four widely known brands: No system beat simply recorking the bottle and sticking it in the fridge.
Getting the air out. With the Wine Enthusiast Private Preserve, $10, you spray nitrogen into the bottle, then stopper it. The Vacu-Vin Vacuum Wine Saver, $10, uses rubber stoppers (two are provided) with a pump that sucks out air. WineKeeper, $100, and Pek Wine Steward, $100, use nitrogen and argon gas, respectively, to displace air and so keep it from touching the wine.
We tested three varietals with the systems on three different occasions for three different periods of time. For comparison, we also stoppered one bottle with its own cork. After all the bottles spent time in our wine cellar, expert wine consultants compared their contents in blind taste tests with freshly opened bottles.
Graceful aging. The connoisseurs found few differences between the stored and new bottles. The chardonnay, stored for 10 days, tasted pretty uniform; one judge wondered if it had all come from the same bottle. There was a noticeable variation between the new bottle of cabernet sauvignon and bottles that had been stored for eight days, though testers still said new and old bottles were still “more similar than different.” The zinfandel, stored for 22 days, had aged badly with all storage methods.
If our trained experts, with nearly 60 years in the business, couldn’t discern among wine storage systems, most consumers probably can’t, either. So just go ahead and cork it (you can turn the cork over if it’s easier to get in). But try not to wait more than a week or so to drink the wine, and sooner is better.
Fresh alternatives. Two up-and-coming trends in wine packaging offer ways to avoid unfinished bottles. Some wines, including the Stone Cellars by Beringer chardonnay we tested for this report, come in quarter-sized, 187-ml bottles. And more premium wines are now available in boxes, which remain airtight after opening.
