# Saving Wine **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** wine\ **Created:** [October 1, 2007, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-wine/421102 "2007-10-01T01:52:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2007, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-wine/421102/1 "2007-10-01T01:52:43Z")
I was just making some cheese fondue and wondering if there was any way to preserve the rest of the bottle of wine for cooking with at some later date (freezing etc.) since it’s just cheepo wine that no one would want to drink. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2007, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-wine/421102/2 "2007-10-01T02:00:05Z")
Put the cork back in the bottle and put it in the fridge. Try to use the rest of it within a week. If you mean “later date” to be a month from now, then the answer is “no,” even for cheap wine. ---
**Author:** ![phungi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phungi/32/395_2.png) [@phungi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phungi)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2007, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-wine/421102/3 "2007-10-01T02:16:42Z")
get some [wine vacuums](http://www.tabletools.com/sitemap_products.cfm/233/23)… they work great and keep the wine for a week or so. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2007, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-wine/421102/4 "2007-10-01T02:33:02Z")
[QUOTE=phungi] get some [wine vacuums](http://www.tabletools.com/sitemap_products.cfm/233/23)… they work great and keep the wine for a week or so. [/QUOTE] I use the “vacu vin” on the rare occasion when the bottle isn’t finished. It seems to work quite well, although I think the longest I’ve waited was 3 or 4 days before finishing the bottle. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2007, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-wine/421102/5 "2007-10-01T11:56:23Z")
Since the point is to keep oxygen away from the wine, Cooks Illustrated tried putting the wine in an empty bottled water bottle, so that it overfilled slightly, leaving no room for air. While clearly an operation to be done over the sink, they found the results comparable to the vacuum gadgets. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2007, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-wine/421102/6 "2007-10-01T12:54:55Z")
I’ve tried everything, and the best way I’ve found is to keep it in the fridge. Even drinking wine (as opposed to cooking wine) will generally be good for 3-5 days in the fridge. Cooking wine lasts longer. As long as it doesn’t smell or look funny, it’s usable. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2007, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-wine/421102/7 "2007-10-01T13:37:16Z")
Why cook with a wine you wouldn’t drink? You do realize that you are adding the flavor of the wine to the food, so if you wouldn’t drink it, why eat it? So you open a bottle, cook with some, and drink the rest with dinner. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2007, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-wine/421102/8 "2007-10-01T14:06:48Z")
[QUOTE=Unauthorized Cinnamon] Since the point is to keep oxygen away from the wine, Cooks Illustrated tried putting the wine in an empty bottled water bottle, so that it overfilled slightly, leaving no room for air. While clearly an operation to be done over the sink, they found the results comparable to the vacuum gadgets. [/QUOTE] Ooh, that’s a clever idea. I’ll have to try that. We use the Vacu Vin thingy, which lets us keep red wine for maybe three days. White wine seems to last longer – about a week. For cooking wine, we usually buy those four-pack single serving wine bottles. Each one is about a cup, which I find is about what I want when I’m using wine to cook. Four-packs probably aren’t cost effective compared to full bottles of the same stuff, but you wind up wasting less when you just want enough to cook with. We just keep a couple of different kinds in the pantry. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2007, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-wine/421102/9 "2007-10-01T14:31:26Z")
Personally I keep a collection of various size bottles and use the fill up and seal method and find that most wines are good for a week or 2, even longer if I know I am not going to drink a whole bottle and rebottle the leftovers **first** limiting the oxygen exposure. However last year [Consumer Reports](http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/food/beverages/wine/wine-12-06/wine-preservation/1206_wine_storage.htm) painted an even rosier picture: The connoisseurs found few differences between the stored and new bottles. The chardonnay, stored for 10 days, tasted pretty uniform; one judge wondered if it had all come from the same bottle. There was a noticeable variation between the new bottle of cabernet sauvignon and bottles that had been stored for eight days, though testers still said new and old bottles were still “more similar than different.” The zinfandel, stored for 22 days, had aged badly with all storage methods. If our trained experts, with nearly 60 years in the business, couldn’t discern among wine storage systems, most consumers probably can’t, either. So just go ahead and cork it (you can turn the cork over if it’s easier to get in). But try not to wait more than a week or so to drink the wine, and sooner is better. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2007, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-wine/421102/10 "2007-10-01T14:41:52Z")
Left over wine? 😕😕 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2007, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-wine/421102/11 "2007-10-01T14:48:17Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge] Left over wine? 😕😕 [/QUOTE] Well, sometimes you just can’t finish the 3rd bottle… ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2007, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-wine/421102/12 "2007-10-01T17:15:51Z")
FWIW, I knew a guy who had a homemade device that replaced the air in a partially full bottle with CO[sub]2[/sub]. He claimed this seriously extended the shelf life. Sounds at least plausible. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2007, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-wine/421102/13 "2007-10-01T18:04:13Z")
[QUOTE=Unauthorized Cinnamon] Since the point is to keep oxygen away from the wine, . [/QUOTE] Actually, some wines – cabernets especially, are much improved by letting oxygen get to it. They can be left corked at room temperature for days and be all the better for it. ---
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-wine/421102/14 "2007-10-01T18:09:27Z")
**Freeze it.** Wine freezes very well and can be kept this way for months. When you thaw it, it will be much fresher than if it had been stored in the fridge for several days. When you thaw it it will probably have a sediment that has come out of suspension. Just pour smoothly until you come to that part and then toss the last sip. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2007, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-wine/421102/15 "2007-10-01T19:31:17Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] Why cook with a wine you wouldn’t drink? You do realize that you are adding the flavor of the wine to the food, so if you wouldn’t drink it, why eat it? [/QUOTE] I don’t drink wine and my parents (whose house I was at) only drink fancy-schmansy expensive wine which costs a bit much to use just to spice up some melted gruyere. ---
**Author:** ![Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Ass\_For\_A\_Hat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ass_For_A_Hat)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2007, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-wine/421102/16 "2007-10-02T02:14:11Z")
[QUOTE=Xema] FWIW, I knew a guy who had a homemade device that replaced the air in a partially full bottle with CO[sub]2[/sub]. He claimed this seriously extended the shelf life. Sounds at least plausible. [/QUOTE] There are commercial products that do this. [Here](http://www.privatepreserve.com/history.htm) is the one that I usually use. Personally, I feel that gas works better than vacuum pump devices. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2007, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/saving-wine/421102/17 "2007-10-02T12:37:06Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] Why cook with a wine you wouldn’t drink? You do realize that you are adding the flavor of the wine to the food, so if you wouldn’t drink it, why eat it? [/QUOTE] Well, I personally wouldn’t drink wine vinegar, nor sherry in which peppers have been steeped, but I’d happily flavour food with them, so the principle’s not necessarily unsound. Also I always consider _coq au vin_ as the happy marriage between a tough old rooster that would be marginally edible by itself and sour old wine that you’d have to be a real dipso to consider drinking - the secret’s in the combination, the additional ingredients, and the preparation.