In terms of keeping opened bottles of wine refrigeration makes little difference. It is the exposure to the air that that causes the wine to deteriorate. In Australia it is easy to buy perfectly respectable wines in casks. The collapsible bladder that contains the wine overcomes this problem. If you are drinking bottled wines and hope to keep them for a few days the best method is to decant the undrunk portion into a clean bottle and seal. If you are worried about appearances buy some half-bottles of wine and keep them and the corks. Wash both and use them for your stored leftovers.
I keep a few different sized screwtop bottles ranging from 200 to 600ml for this kind of thing. The trick is to fill the bottle as much as possible before sealing thus my preference for screwtops. My feeling is that eliminating the air in the bottle makes a huge difference in how well it keeps so usually if I know I won’t finish a wine I make up the “leftover” bottle first and fill it to the brim. I will even add a splash of water to eliminate a small amount of air in the bottle.
You can also get cans of nitrogen in wine shops and some grocery stores–squirt some into the bottle to drive out the oxygen, then recork. No rebottling required.
Interesting! What is it in wine that is good for reducing cholesterol? I always thought it was the alcohol in wine that aided relaxation and thus was good for the heart. Does it have antioxidants too?
Is grape juice really a good alternative, as mentioned by Scarface Z? For someone who’s not a big fan of alcohol or wine in particular, the grape juice option would be nice to confirm.
From personal experience I don’t think those systems really work and they cost money. I know that other people swear by them but I think free rebottling is better.
I’ve always heard that it was simply the alcohol that had health benefits. Maybe the situation calls for a shot of vodka followed by some Welches.
I second going for the two-buck-chuck (in fact, I may just go open a bottle myself). The have a gamay beaujolais out that tastes like watered down kool aid, which might not be a bad idea for you.
If you don’t have a Trader Joe’s around, I suggest finding a pinot noir that you like. They can be very fruity and highly drinkable.
The USDA’s Human Nutrition Research Center reported in November 2004 that its the alcohol itself that provides the health benefit. According to the Tufts University Health & Nutrition newslwtter: "One thing is clear, however: A drink is a drink is a drink. It used to be that the only beverage mentioned in a discussion of the health benefits of alcohol was red wine. Now, scientists refer to all alcoholic beverages because the cardiovascular benefit appears to come from the ethanol found in alcohol, which has a positive effect on the lining of blood vessels. This is a different focus from the earlier spotlight on antioxidants found in red wine, which some believe have cholesterol-lowering properties. Recently, researchers at the University of Western Ontario found that one beer had the same antioxidant benefits as a glass of red wine. "
I’ve tried lots of ways to reseal wine bottles and the best I’ve found involves a vacuum pump and a rubber cork with a two-way valve. Put the cork in the bottle and use the vacuum pump (manual) to pump out all the air. You know you’re done when the cork won’t come out. This works really well and I paid about $6 for the pump and four rubber corks. You can often find this device at Trader Joe’s. I agree about 2 buck chuck, too…and almost every other wine is cheaper at TJs. Lots of specials too, that let you try out some other wines for cheap. If you don’t live near one, then MOVE!!!
back when it was first avaiable here, boone’s farm apple was sold cold at the liquor store for about 69 cents a bottle. i remember many friday nights we would start a monumental drunken weekendby stopping by the liquor store and saying: “give us all the cold boone’s farm ya got!”
there is no hangover in the world quite as miserable as one from mass quanities of cheap wine…
Rather than recommending a specific type of wine, I’m going to suggest you look around for a wine shop or two and find out their tasting schedule. Most good wine shops have a night each week or each month where you can pay three or five bucks and sample half a dozen featured wines. Sometimes it’ll be a theme night, like ports or Italian reds; sometimes it’ll just be whatever they’ve got a lot of.
It’s quick and affordable way to breeze through a lot of styles and figure out what you really like.
Even though this isn’t my thread, I want to thank everyone for the interesting replies.
I’ve been wanting to get into wine for the longest time, since it’s so popular and since enjoying new wines sounds like a fun thing to get into. Trouble is, I have zero tolerance for any alcohol drink that isn’t sweet (which means I love cheap malt beverages like Mike’s Hard Lemonade and shun beer and hard liquor).
Another problem I have with wine is my palate. You could pour me a glass of Uncle Earl’s Kansas City Rotgut and a glass of Chateau LaFleur 1789 Estate Vintage and to me they’re both going to taste like rotting grape juice.
I’m going to try a bottle of Manischewitz and see if that tickles my fancy.
I second this. Two Buck (or Three Buck around here) Chuck is the best price-for-quality value out there. It’s the only drinkable sub-$5 table wine I know of. (Pity– there really should be more. In Europe you can find many drinkable wines in the under $7 price range.) I’m guessing a Shiraz would be more up your alley, but none of the Charles Shaw wines are particularly sweet.
American Pinot Noirs are quite yummy, too, and a decent value because they’re not quite as popular as Cabernet Sauvignons, Merlots, Zinfandels, and Shirazes (Syrahs). Unfortunately, my knowledge of American vintages isn’t terribly good, but a random stab at a $10-$15 Pinot Noir should do you well.
For a decent red wine, try a Claret or a Burgundy; for a white, try Pouilly Fumé or Sancerre. Don’t go and spoil your palate on drek. It’s better to drink wine with food than on an empty stomach, and a recorked bottle will handily last to the next day. The day after, you add the remainder to the cooking! Red wine helps make a wonderful gravy or stew and you can poach fish in white wine.
This is the wine that made me realize I could enjoy (and now prefer) red wine, so I can second the recommendation. My rich roommate sorta sneered at it without trying it. Good–I didn’t want to share anyway.
Since you like Welch’s grape juice, you might like wines made from grapes of the species Vitis labrusca as opposed to the usual Vitis vinifera. Labrusca grapes like Niagara, Delawre, and Concord are commonly made into juice. In New York and other eastern states they are used for wine because vinifera grapes are hard to grow there. Not all wines made in the eastern U.S. are made from labrusca grapes, but most of those that are widely distributed are, like those from Taylor. Chances are that if you live in an eastern state, there will be a winery near you that uses labrusca grapes.
Well, there’s always Mogen David (remember the old '70’s commercial? "It’s not the wine you’re supposed to like, it’s the wine you really like!) I went through a phase when I was drinking a lot of it. Very sweet, rather potent.
Aside from that, I can’t really think of anything that hasn’t been mentioned already. I am rather fond of Soliel red, which is fairly inexpensive, and there is s screw-top flavored variety if you like sweet wine. I’ve find some nice pinot noirs that were also inexpensive. Burgundy is a good “beginner’s” wine as well. Right now I’m getting ready to crack open a bottle of Yellowtail cabernet sauvignon.
A word of warning, though, pinot noirs and cabernet sauvignons tend to be a bit dry, so if you like a sweet wine, you might want to look elsewhere. Of course, if you like eating chocolate with your wine, a dry wine is very nice, as it complements the sweetness of the chocolate in a weird way that I can’t quite describe.
Also, I’ve never met a bottle of Three Buck Chuck I didn’t like, so you might just want to hie yourself to Trader Joes and pick up a few different reds to try.
