I’ve noticed that many of the tasting notes mention how the wine changes over the course of a couple days. (I often don’t have any left when we pop a bottle, but do occasionally!)
What is the “best” way to do this? (And I’m talking dry reds, mainly cab) Are you leaving the bottle open or are you putting the cork back in? Are you leaving it on the counter, or putting it in the fridge?
Old school recork (unless it’s been compromised, in that case a synthetic stopper) and back in the fridge
My wife stopped drinking so I often drink a 1/2 bottle or less. I immediately decant to a clean .375 screw-top bottle (Perrier works for me) and refrigerate.
My wife also started drinking less last year, as she got pregnant and just didn’t drink as much after having the baby. So, I generally will open a bottle and have it last 2-3 days (although she surprised me every so often by downing half the bottle in one night).
I open, put the cork back in, and put it back in the wine fridge. I give it 3 nights at most. For example, having a 2015 cab now that I opened 2 nights ago. It’s fun to explore the changes in taste.
I also try to forecast the drinking period. If I know I won’t be able to consume within 3 nights, I’ll use a coravin instead.
I have a 12 bottle wine fridge in my kitchen so I put half consumed bottles of red wine back in that. Young wines can be left with the cork out overnight or with the cork in for a couple nights. I use a vacuvin if I want the wine to not develop noticeably over a day or two. Open bottles of white wine keep well in the fridge for a couple weeks.
It’s funny, I’ve always left the remaining bottle of red corked on the counter. Starting now to put in the fridge.
We almost always drink a wine over 3+ days. Sometimes over 7 days. Call it conservative consumption.
I have a Vacuvin. If the wine comes with a cork or facsimile, I use the Vacuvin with stopper, and reds stay at room temperature. Whites and Rose’ go into the frig. If the wine is screwtop, white or Rose’, I re-use the screwtop. If it’s red, I will re-use the screwtop for daily drinkers and do the Vacuvin thing for more expensive juice. Vacuvins do seem to help, but your mileage may vary of course.
There are expensive options, such as Coravin. I’ll leave it to the experienced users to comment on the high-end products.
Cheers!
I used to re-cork or vacuum seal bottles because my wife stopped drinking for a while (3 kids in 4.5 years). Then I got a Coravin which was good for having just a glass, especially for nicer wines that I wasn’t sure I’d drink the following night. I’ll still open a bottle and consume over 2-3 days to follow the evolution. For reds, I’ll typically vacuum seal each night, and try not to leave less than half a bottle. For whites, I recork/rescrew and leave in the fridge. I think you can get more time in the fridge, but I don’t like to plan ahead to warm the reds.
That doesn’t make sense to me though, I usually put it in the fridge for preservation. If I’m drinking it over 3 days isn’t the goal specifically NOT to preserve it?
It will still evolve because of oxygen exposure in the bottle.
Yup.
Put it into a clean .375 with as little air space as possible. Stick it in the fridge. Will last a very long time.
I must be dense, I just don’t get the fridge aspect of it. Does it help preserve it in some way?
The temperature being cool in the fridge can help keep it fresh rather than leaving it at room temperature.