A couple of wines left out on the counter ...

About two weeks ago, I opened a 2004 Cline Cellars Ancient Vines Carignane, Contra Costa County. On Saturday night, I opened a 2004 J. Vidal-Fleury Côte du Rhône. Well, they both stood out on my kitchen counter, the carignane stoppered with a rubber closure and the Rhône closed with a cork from an old cognac bottle. I did nothing special to preserve them. Today at lunch, I poured myself a glass of the two-week open carignane and was surprised to find it still quite drinkable. It wasn't at its peak, but it had no negative traits to speak of. The three-day-old Rhône wine which I recently panned in a WTN actually tasted moderately good, i.e the stink was gone, the coarseness was gone, and there was somewhat of a fruit flavor which went well with my homemade minestrone and poppy seed bagel. To say the least, I was pleasantly surprised at the longevity of these open bottles.

That you would try to foist off on the wine community the heresy that a wine can stand on the counter, with no protection whatsoever, and not oxidize and turn to vinegar. Gary...this is total heresy. Are you trying to ruin the sale of all the VacuVins and PrivatePreserve gas systems in the world?? God is going to punish you for this!!!
I'm not too surprised by your result, Gary. It's pretty consistent w/ what I observe for young wines. The oxidation rate in wine is so slow, that no significant oxidation takes place in a matter of days, maybe even weeks, for a young wine. For older wines, in a highly reduced state, this is certainly not true, though. I've had 10-20-30 yr old wines stand on the counter, and they are a dark/murky brown by the next morning. But young wines, mostly what you have is the loss of volatiles into the headspace. Sometimes the DO get better from several days on the counter. Sometimes, they just stay about the same. But don't tell the VacuVin people that. They got a good thing going!!
Tom

To say the least, I was pleasantly surprised at the longevity of these open bottles.

I have been pleasantly surprised by wines left on the counter so often that it is no longer a surprise. I am surprised when young reds aren't better the second day, and hold for a third. But two weeks..... never. I mean, never have I tried that. I'd never have a bottle on the counter for anywhere near that long. Only by planning on it do I get one to four days. And I think I've only had a few bottles, all young Bdx, that are better on four days than two.

But two weeks..... never. I mean, never have I tried that. I'd never have a bottle on the counter for anywhere near that long.

Ordinarily I try to consume a bottle in a single sitting. My new job, however, has been prying me out of my happy home and sending me out on the road with very little notice and rather frequently to boot. I'm almost afraid to open a good bottle that I won't be finishing for fear of wasting it. That two-weeker was a fluke.