|
How long can you keep leftover wine?
How long can you keep leftover wine once you've opened the bottle? In my standard reply to this frequently asked question, I try to discourage folks from overdoing it:
Wine shops sell preservation systems that suck the air out of opened bottles or squirt inert gases in, but I wouldn't spend the money or effort. They offer little if any advantage over simply jamming the cork back into the half-finished bottle. It will hold at room temperature for a day or two before its flavor starts to deteriorate seriously. Pop it in the fridge, and it might last for a week or two. Fortified wines like Port or Sherry may last a little longer, but much more than a week is pushing it. Your best bet is simply to finish your wine within a couple of days ... use the leftovers for cooking ... or invite friends over to share. That's my standard advice, anyway. But always being one to test the conventional wisdom - even my own - I ran a simple experiment. Over several nights, I took care to leave about a half-bottle of each evening's wine, casually stored on the kitchen counter with the corks stuck back in. I let them go for about five days before re-tasting, then checked them again after a full week or more had passed. Of course the wines changed over time, but somewhat to my surprise, none of the three deterioriated as quickly as I thought they would, and all remained at least drinkable after a week to 10 days, and at least two of the three arguably became a bit more accessible with extended airing. Perhaps it's more than a coincidence that all three were fairly robust reds with at least limited cellar potential. Here's a quick look at the three wines and how they fared in the open bottle: Simon Bize 2002 Bourgogne "Les Perrières" ($16.99) - A simple Burgundy but a good one, it's clear, dark ruby in color, initially showing clear dark ruby color, attractive red-cherry aromas with a hint of smoke, and juicy and fresh flavors of tart fruit and crisp acidity in good balance. Four days later, its fruit had faded a bit, bringing its earthy character into sharper focus, which was not a bad thing. With clean fruit and crisp acidity, it was changed a little but just as good as new. Four days later, the first hints of incipient oxidation actually seemed to heighten the fruit and make the wine accessible, but I wouldn't hold it longer, as the first signs of the walnutty, "cheap-Sherry" character of oxidized wines were starting to show. Domaine Paul Autard 2004 Côtes du Rhône ($14) - A hearty, "chewy" little brother to Chateauneuf-du-Pape, it's dark garnet in color with a reddish-violet edge. On first tasting, its aroma evokes Chambord raspberry liqueur, warm and ripe. Full-bodied, red-berry fruit and subtle earth and sufficient acidity are softened by abundant fruit and structured by slight, drying tannins, with 14.5 percent alcohol contributing body without excessive heat. Five days later it showed no hint of oxidation and in fact seemed to be shutting down and slosing a bit. Still, it was in no way deteriorating, with appealing black fruit and fragrant pepper on the nose and palate. Only the faintest touch of oxidation showed five days after that, emulating maturity rather than decay, and the fruit was opening up again in a ripe, structured wine. It's arguable that 10 days in the bottle actually improved this wine, although I wouldn't let it go much longer. Sean H. Thackrey Pleiades XIII Old Vines ($23.49) - Featured in the Dec. 11 Wine Advisor, this fine California red blend earned my praise for its bold cherry-berry flavors, although I declared it a bit more fruit-driven and not quite as attractively earthy as some prior bottlings. After six days in the open bottle, however, it was much more like Pleiades of yore, with earthy and complex flavor nuances joining the fruit and only the faintest whiff of appropriate, mature-wine oxidation whispering at the edges. Summed up, I still don't recommend keeping wine for weeks or longer once the cork has been pulled, and I'd urge erring on the side of caution by enjoying the rest of your bottle at the next reasonable opportunity. And do use the fridge to extend its lifespan a bit. But don't panic if you can't get back to the wine the next day. And remember, even if your wine gets too old to enjoy, it can't hurt you. Wine may lose its flavor and become flat, dull and unenjoyable after sufficient time in the open bottle, but it won't turn toxic.
 Today's Sponsor
WineGlobe.com Shop WineGlobe.com's extensive last-minute gift guide. Inside are items sure to please - discounted from WineGlobe's already low prices.
Special for the holidays! Click the image link at right for WineGlobe's gift baskets, and take 15 percent off by using the special gift code wgad106 when you place your online order! The holiday season calls for wines a little more special than we might enjoy during the rest of the year, and I find lately that the lion's share of the high-end wines that I open come in my monthly shipment from California Wine Club's Connoisseurs' Series. If you're looking for a very special last-minute gift for a wine-loving friend - or yourself - a Connoisseurs' Series membership might be the perfect choice. Call 1-800-777-4443 for information.
This inky blackish-purple wine shows off Napa Cabernet in fine fashion, with characteristic aromas of blackcurrant cassis nuanced by whiffs of anise and fresh tarragon. Mouth-filling and ripe flavors focus on elegant Cabernet fruit shaped by mouth-watering acidity and silky-smooth tannins, yielding to cassis and a gentle squirt of meyer lemon in a very long finish. Lovely body and structure over silken tannins keep a hefty 14.5 percent alcohol well under control in this splendid Cabernet. Made to go with rare beef, it was fine with a pre-holiday dinner of medium-rare single-bone beef rib roast. Only 735 cases were made. To visit the winery Website, click http://www.clospegase.com. (Dec. 15, 2006)
Dark reddish-purple with a bright-garnet glint. Ripe, plummy fruit aromas add characteristic cool-climate Pinot notes of "cherry cola" and "tomato skin." Subtle earthiness develops with time in the glass. Flavors are consistent with the nose, full and ripe, showing exceptional complexity for a big New World Pinot, and oak is present but does not dominate. Good acidity builds structure, with tart black plums in a long finish. It was fine with leftover roast beef sliced onto a bold but not fiery Thai-style beef salad, and made an excellent vegetarian match with hearty red-brown "Christmas lima beans" from RanchoGordo.com. Just 488 cases of this wine were produced. Here's the winery Website: http://www.robertstemmlerwinery.com. (Dec. 17, 2006)
FIND THESE WINES ONLINE:
TheWineBuyer.com is your best source for wine on the Internet. Buy your old favorites and new discoveries and have them shipped right to your door! Try our Wine Gift Ideas for all your upcoming holiday wine gifts, whether personal or corporate. Sign up for our email newsletter and be the first to find out about special wines and sales; right now we're counting down our Top 10 Wines of the Year. Check out our Wine Education Pages and enhance your wine knowledge.
Our Wine Video Watch Page now online
http://www.wineloverspage.com/winevideo/ This growing collection of wine-related video links will feature an entertaining mix of personal videos, educational materials and wine producer features, plus links to quality wine-related DVDs at Amazon.com. In short, you'll find this page a quick and easy central access point to the whole gamut of wine video sources online ... including our own original wine-video productions, coming soon.
For more technical background on finding, downloading and viewing online wine videos, see Willy Pickett's article, Wine Video on the Web:
TALK ABOUT WINE ONLINE:
To read and comment on today's column in our non-commercial WineLovers Discussion Group, click:
Today's article is cross-posted in our Netscape WineLovers Community, where we also welcome comments and questions. To contact me by E-mail, write wine@wineloverspage.com. I'll respond personally to the extent that time and volume permit.
PRINT OUT TODAY'S ARTICLE This week on WineLoversPage.com
• Schaefer on Wine: Good news for Byron
• Dave McIntyre's WineLine: Wine books by blondes
• Hot topics in our WineLovers Discussion Groups
Open Mike: 2005 German Riesling
Top wine wish from Santa? Last Week's Wine Advisor Index The Wine Advisor's daily edition is usually distributed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays (and, for those who subscribe, the FoodLetter on Thursdays). Here's the index to last week's columns:
• When is Port not Port? (Dec. 15, 2006)
• Chilean Cabernet (Dec. 13, 2006)
• Say "cheese" (Dec. 11, 2006)
• Complete 30 Second Wine Advisor archive:
• Wine Advisor FoodLetter: Another diet book? Ho, hum! (Dec. 14, 2006)
• Wine Advisor Foodletter archive: Administrivia To subscribe or unsubscribe from The 30 Second Wine Advisor, change your E-mail address, or for any other administrative matters, please use the individualized hotlink found at the end of your E-mail edition. If this is not practical, contact me by E-mail at wine@wineloverspage.com, including the exact E-mail address that you used when you subscribed, so I can find your record. We do not use our E-mail list for any other purpose and will never give or sell your name or E-mail address to anyone. I welcome feedback, suggestions, and ideas for future columns. To contact me, please send E-mail to wine@wineloverspage.com All the wine-tasting reports posted here are consumer-oriented. In order to maintain objectivity and avoid conflicts of interest, I purchase all the wines I rate at my own expense in retail stores and accept no samples, gifts or other gratuities from the wine industry.
Monday, Dec. 18, 2006
|
Clos Pegase 2001 "Hommage" Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($75 retail, $69 per bottle for half or full case orders from Connoisseurs' Series)
Robert Stemmler 2002 "Ferguson Block" Carneros Pinot Noir ($40 retail, $36 per bottle for half or full case orders from Connoisseurs' Series)
