You’re grilling some steaks tonight and open a bottle of wine to enjoy with dinner.  About halfway through you decide not to finish the bottle.  You could put the cork back in the bottle and hope it still tastes good in a couple of days when you want to finish it, but you never know if that will work.  To me, there’s nothing worse than the taste of wine that’s been opened too long, and tossing wine down the sink is like throwing money away.  So what’s a good way to store an open bottle of wine? 

For years, I’ve used the Vacu Vin Wine Saver Pump and Stopper, a vacuum pump which extracts the air from the opened bottle with a reusable rubber stopper.  This slows down the oxidation process so you can enjoy your wine again later.  This is a great way to keep your wine tasting fresh, and it’s only about $10-12, two extra stoppers sell for $6.  You can find one at most ABC stores. 

Recently I was given a present, The Wine Vacuum Seal, about $35 from The Sharper Image, which automatically vacuums the air from your open bottle of wine.  The seal is rechecked every four hours and activates if needed.  It even has a thermometer and a day counter.  On the contrary, it is a little big and bulky when stored in the fridge and quickly goes through two AAA batteries in just a couple of uses.   However, the seal created is very tight and the wine stays extremely fresh tasting. 

How long your wine stays fresh somewhat depends on how full your bottle is, more in bottle holds a little better, but you can expect for it to taste fresh for up to a week with one of these tools.   I also like to keep the sealed bottle in my refrigerator, where the cold temperature slows down the oxidation process a little more.  So which is better, the automatic Wine Vacuum Seal, or the manual Vacu Vin Wine Saver Pump?  I still love my good old Vacu Vin, mine is about 7 years old now.   Its affordable, easy to use, and a greener choice for saving wine.

Guest blogger Amy Zugras is a Certified Sommelier, and the Wine Consultant at our New Port Richey store.