So you have just finished enjoying your last glass of Merlot but you still have some left to savor for another occasion, now what? How long should it keep to maintain quality? What steps can you take to maintain taste?
These are the types of questions wine lovers confront regularly and argue about endlessly. And there are many methods, savy or not, that people use to make uncorked wine last just a little longer.
Sadly, the solution often hangs on the dreaded word "depends." How long a wine will last depends on what kind: red or white, sweet or dry, made to age or ready for drinking.
All wine will live to drink another day at least 24 hours with a cork in it. Most wines will go three days, and richer wines a week, with proper care. Below are a few tricks to make wine last a while longer:
- The more wine in the bottle, the longer it will last. A bottle with a few inches of wine has more air and thus oxidizes faster.
- Buy a few of the half bottles that are popular now. After finishing those, save them for nights you don't finish a 750ml bottle. Transfer the remains into the smaller 375ml bottle and it will keep longer.
- Purchase a wine stopper, vacuum or nitrogen device. These will help keep oxygen out which causes flavor and quality deterioration.
- Store wine in as cool, dark, and vibration-free a place as possible. Keep them on their sides, so the cork does not dry out. A dried-out cork will let in more oxygen than a wet one, and too much oxygen causes wine to age too quickly.
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