# What can we do with old bottles of wine? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 31, 2005, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-with-old-bottles-of-wine/328824 "2005-10-31T23:40:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-with-old-bottles-of-wine/328824/1 "2005-10-31T23:40:41Z")
We’re not oenophiles. Or wine afficionados. We drink it and serve it occasionally when we have company. My wife drinks a glass or two every evening after work, and she has her preferred wines. But over the years, we’ve accumulated many bottles of wine we will never drink. They’re not fine wines. Some got into the house by way of the guest bringing the obligitory bottle. There is a bottle of white zinfandel, for example. Not going to drink it. An old bottle of average quality champagne. An old bottle of Gewurtztraminer. That kind of thing. We can’t in good conscience give the wine to any friends. We can’t donate it, along with our old clothing, to the Salvation Army. Does anyone have a good idea of how we can get rid of it, short of just throwing it in the garbage? ---
**Author:** ![threemae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f9b8f/32.png) [@threemae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threemae)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-with-old-bottles-of-wine/328824/2 "2005-10-31T23:43:07Z")
Well, where do you live? Perhaps some Dopers could take it off your hands. Failing that, put it up for free or even a small fee on Craigslist. ---
**Author:** ![Mbossa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@Mbossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mbossa)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-with-old-bottles-of-wine/328824/3 "2005-10-31T23:51:32Z")
Have you thought about using some of it for cooking? My family recipe for lasagne calls for a cup or two of red wine, and I’m sure white wine would work in quite a few dishes. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-with-old-bottles-of-wine/328824/4 "2005-10-31T23:58:32Z")
Go to a bar and ask patrons if they would like some wine to take home. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-with-old-bottles-of-wine/328824/5 "2005-11-01T00:07:27Z")
Coq au vin is delicious, not terribly difficult, and uses one standard-size bottle of (traditionally red, but why not white too?) wine to serve four people. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-with-old-bottles-of-wine/328824/6 "2005-11-01T00:15:35Z")
Old inexpensive red wine, or any old white wine, won’t be very good. All wines do not improve with age, most don’t. You may have a lot of bottles of vinegar. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2005, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-with-old-bottles-of-wine/328824/7 "2005-11-01T00:22:52Z")
Old, over-the-hill wine makes a good drain cleaner. Other than that…make vinegar. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-with-old-bottles-of-wine/328824/8 "2005-11-01T00:35:14Z")
Most colleges and universities have research labs that will gladly accept donated wines of any label and vintage. These buildings are easily identified by the seemingly random selection of Greek letters above the main entrance. Many are willing to pay as much as $1 per bottle for the inconvenience of your having to deliver it. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-with-old-bottles-of-wine/328824/9 "2005-11-01T00:51:00Z")
In the spring use it on the lawn to help break down thatch in the lawn. Beer is what people normaly use, but wine should work too. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-with-old-bottles-of-wine/328824/10 "2005-11-01T01:06:41Z")
Bad wine can sometimes become fine vinegar. See if you can get a vinegar mother from a health food shop. Then, it’s simply a matter of occasionally topping it off and siphoning it off. Home made wine vinegar makes an excellent gift since it keeps indefinately without elaborate steralisation methods. And if a batch turns out to be not so hot, then you can throw it away without guilt since the wine was going to be wasted anyway. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-with-old-bottles-of-wine/328824/11 "2005-11-01T03:57:01Z")
> [@CC](#): > > Does anyone have a good idea of how we can get rid of it, short of just throwing it in the garbage? 1. Pull the corks and pour it in the potty. 2. Pack it in a crate, nailed tight, with sign reading “All or nothing,” 3. Surely there is an area in town where the inhabitants will welcome a bottle or twol 4. Set them up on fence posts and have target practice. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-with-old-bottles-of-wine/328824/12 "2005-11-01T05:55:32Z")
Do you have a wine rack/liquor cabinet. We have alot of wine that we’ll never drink, so I just use it as a filler when there’s an empty space, especially if it has a nice label, or it’s an obscure brand. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2005, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-with-old-bottles-of-wine/328824/13 "2005-11-01T11:20:15Z")
[Put it in your gas tank](http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051012/OPINION02/510120329/-1/OPINION) > [@](#): > > The worldwide glut has gotten so bad that for the first time in history French vineyards that produce quality wine several sniffs above the ordinary table brands are getting rid of it. They’re distilling millions of bottles worth of reds and whites into - fuel. Mon Dieu! > > … > > By the end of this year hundreds of wine-makers will turn their mellow Merlots and crisp Chardonnays into crystal-clear ethanol, which will be sold to oil refineries for use as an additive for gasoline. France already uses about 1 percent ethanol in its gasoline and that percentage is expected to rise to 5.75 percent in a few years to meet European Union demands for more use of renewable fuels.