How to Preserve Wine? Opened and Unopened

Who has Leftover Wine? Preservation Options

Oct 26, 2021

By far the most common question I am asked as a wine professional is, “How and for how long can I preserve an opened bottle of wine?” I was presenting at a DAR – Daughters of the American Revolution meeting a few years ago on the topic of Thomas Jefferson and Wine. Following the presentation no one had questions about that topic, only about preserving wine! Laughter followed the question with several audience members noting, “Who has leftover wine? Mine is always gone!.”

This is a thoughtful question, however, with many current technology and non-technology preservation options and answers available. Here are some choices to consider.

Unopened Bottles and Wine Aging

Unopened bottles to be deliberately aged should follow these guidelines:

·      Store in a cool cabinet unless you have a cooled commercial wine cellar/keeper.
·      Temperature fluctuation is the most serious hazard for wine storage. The warmer the temperature, the faster it will mature. Never let it fall below -4º C (18ºF) as that can force corks out of bottlenecks.
·      Humidity is important as corks can dry out and cease being an effective seal. But too damp of an environment may damage labels.
·      Store bottles away from vibration and UV light- next to a washer or dishwasher is not appropriate.
·      Store wine with a cork enclosure on its side to keep the cork moist.
·      Screw-capped bottles can be stored at any angle
·      Professional Storage – if you have a large volume of young wines for aging, consider professional storage ensuring your wine will remain in ideal storage conditions.
·      Online cellar management systems ensure that wines don’t go beyond their “drink by” dates. A good wine storage inventory system features reminders and notifications letting you know when to drink the wine.

NOTE: Oxygen is the enemy to consider in wine storage.

Jancis Robinson, Master of Wine, Author, Oxford Companion to Wine

Jancis Robinson, Author of the Oxford Companion to Wine, notes:
“I find it inimical to buy wine solely as an investment. And in any case wine prices go down as well as up. But, like all forms of collecting, it can bring a great deal of pleasure (and costs much less than collecting, say, works of art).

Dr. Terry Lease, DipWSET, Professor of Wine Business, Cal Poly University noted:
“I’m not supposed to preserve wine. Wine is supposed to preserve me!”

A Practical and Economic Storage System

My fellow DipWSET graduate, Phillip Anderson, who is also currently a Master of Wine candidate, offers a unique approach to wine storage:

“For anything that I’m really trying to age, I use old wine shipping boxes with formed Styrofoam for the bottle slots. I turn the boxes on their side. Then I store them in a closet. I wish I had a cellar, but this seems to work pretty well. These days I don’t have a large amount of wine set aside for aging. Most of it goes to my tasting rotation for studying [for Master of Wine.]”

Leftover Wine

The answer to how long to keep an opened bottle of wine before it loses its freshness depends on several factors: the type of wine, how empty the bottle is, and available storage methods.

· Keep it cool – both reds and whites. Oxygen reactions are slower at lower temperatures. The reds will warm up soon enough 16-17 ºC (61-63 ºF) for preferred drinking temperature. Put the opened bottle in the refrigerator to lengthen its fruit and fresh flavor.

· Rieslings are almost immortal due to their low pH. They stay fresh for weeks or even months

· Red Burgundy or Pinot Noirs lose their fruit quickest due to the grape’s delicate nature.

· Repour stopper – Repour is a plastic stopper that literally sucks the oxygen out of a bottle. People swear that these work for up to six weeks. A 10-pack costs $18. The TexSom Wine Competition utilized these stoppers when multiple-judge sampling occurred.

· Freezing Wine – Several sommeliers I know swear by freezing leftover wine. Just be sure to check the bottle for cracks/broken glass first and remember that wine freezes at a lower temperature than water due to the alcohol content. Also consider freezing wine in ice cube trays to use for cooking.

· Sparkling wine – Use special sparkling toppers and refrigerate the wine. Who has leftover Champagne?

According to “Ask Dr. Vinney” in the Wine Spectator:
“There’s nothing wrong with freezing wine. In fact, it’s a favorite way for some wine lovers to save leftover wine. I’ve done some trials, and it’s rather remarkable how fresh the wine tastes after it thaws. And for home cooks, a few ice cubes of wine are handy when you want to deglaze a pan without opening a new bottle.”

Use a Coravin to Sample Wine over a Period of Time

The Coravin has been celebrated as a new way to enjoy a valuable, age-worthy wine over a period of months or years. Many white-tablecloth restaurants have a good Coravin wine program offering the chance to have a glass (albeit at $26-$100/glass) of a famous and expensive wine. I personally have a Coravin and use it to sample one of my favorite wines over a long period of time. The Coravin mechanism works by extracting a wine sample through the unpulled cork with a needle, then replaces the empty space with an inert gas. This keeps oxygen from spoiling the rest of the bottle. The inserted needle is small enough that the cork reseals itself. Coravin has just introduced a special variety for sparkling wine/Champagne preservation.

Phillip Anderson, Master of Wine candidate notes:
“I tend to use a Coravin when I’m opening bottles with regular corks. If I open a wine that has a fake cork or a conglomerated cork and I can’t use a Coravin, I usually go with a vacuum pump. I did an experiment recently with 4 different closures & results were somewhat mixed. The Coravin works best when you only drink a small amount. If there is only a small amount wine in the bottle, the less it helps.”