How To Store And Save Red Wine After Opening
There is a saying that we can all agree on, which is that Life is too short to drink bad wine. This is why you should always make sure that you keep your wine as fresh as possible, especially after you open a bottle of red wine. A good bottle of wine doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, but it can cost more when compared to other drinks. For example, a 2-Liter of Pop can last for a few days after being open, but you only pay around $1 for this, and if you have to pour it out, it is easily replaceable. A bottle of wine, though, could cost $10, $20 or even $50; if you waste any of this wine, it’s heartbreaking. There are ways to help prolong the life of your wine once you have opened it.
The main reason that wine typically goes bad and tastes flat after a couple of days after being opened is due to the oxidation that takes place. Because the wine has been bottled up for so long, when it is exposed to oxygen within the air, there is a chemical reaction which occurs. This reaction starts turning the wine into a vinegar substance, which is what gives it a sour and foul smelling characteristic.
The first step you need to take after you open up a glass of wine is to always put the cork back into it. Even if you plan on having another glass later on in the evening, as soon as you open a bottle of wine you must put the cork back in. This will limit the amount of oxygen which will get into the bottle, and help prolong the life of the wine.
The next step you need to take is to put the bottle of wine in the refrigerator. The lower temperatures of the refrigerator will help slow the chemical process down as well. However, when you are storing an opened bottle in the refrigerator, you need to store the wine upright. The reason for this is the only wine that would be exposed to the oxygen is the top of the surface level of the wine within the bottle. When the bottle is upright, there is not much surface. However, when the bottle is on its side, there is more wine exposed to the open air within the bottle, which will cause more of your wine to turn bad sooner.
Lastly, one of the best kinds of wines you can enjoy are older wines. Typically, the older the wine is, the better the sensations of the ingredients are on your palate. And even though the wine does typically taste better, it also spoils faster. Different people have reported that wines which are 10 or more years old can become flat within 24 hours, no matter what measures they take in helping to slow the process down. So be mindful of how old your wine is, and just know the older the wine, the sooner you need to finish it before it goes bad.
Overall, the idea is that you want to expose your wine to as little oxygen as possible. You also want the wine to stay cold for as long as possible, and the newer the wine, the longer you have to enjoy your wine. If you have any other tips or tricks, feel free to write us and let us know what you do to help keep your wines, and specifically your red wines, from becoming flat and tasteless for as long as possible.
