How To Keep Wine Open (And Not Waste It)

Since the holidays, I have a few bottles left open, leftovers from happy evenings, gifts, and the result of friends who, when it comes to drinking, all have different tastes. I looked at them, left in a corner of the kitchen, and wondered what to do with them. There are too many to fade our risotto, to throw them down the sink, even to talk about them, and, to tell the truth, I don't even know if I'm storing them properly. So, under the influence of the stars who say that it is no longer time for Taurus to postpone, I faced the situation head-on and asked who knew anything about wines. I called Tereza Budin, a freelance sommelier, specialised in restaurant consultancy and co-founder of Vicino Wine Club, and asked her: What can we do with open bottles of wine?

"Let's start from a premise," explains Budin. "The golden rule would be not to leave wine in bottles, even if it's a common situation in many restaurants. The second is to drink 'human' wines, which in common parlance we define as 'natural wines'. These are bottles created by small artisans who have greater control over the product and who therefore produce wines without the intervention of sulfites and yeasts present in commercial ones. Sulphites and yeasts are the two elements that allow wines to have a shelf life not only when they are on the shelf, but also once opened at home. When they are present in large quantities, however, they make the wine flat. Wine is fascinating precisely because it can evolve and, especially in natural wines, this evolution can be positive.”

Then, at a technical level, there are some good practices that we can implement: “They range from the simplest ones, such as closing the cap tightly and storing the bottle in a cool place, such as the refrigerator, with the use of Coravin, which in recent years has seen a real boom.” This is a system patented by the American company Coravin that allows you to pour wine without uncorking the bottle: it uses a needle that crosses the cork and replaces the spilt wine with argon gas, so the product that remains inside does not oxidise and is kept for weeks or months. It is a method adopted in restaurants and allows you to offer fine wines by the glass that, otherwise, would be sold only by the bottle. The cost of the Coravin varies from two hundred to five hundred euros for a complete set.

“There are also restaurants that, by philosophy, prefer not to use Coravin," continues Tereza Budin, but that is not why they dispose of unused wine. "In Italy, we have an excellent example of circular economy and anti-waste practices. In Tuscany, there is the Mater restaurant, which makes vermouth with leftover wine. If we feel particularly prepared, we can also consider this practice at home. Otherwise, I can reveal my favourite solution: the tarallini. Great as a gift and perfect for an aperitif. Alternatively, you can search for recipes for making focaccia with wine.”

When we consider that wine cannot be used in the kitchen, throwing it away is not an option anyway. Just like vinegar, white wine becomes an excellent ally for cleaning, especially on steel surfaces (it is better to avoid red wine, which could stain the most delicate ones), or in the beauty sector. “Let's not forget that wine was considered the nectar of the gods.” At the end of the day, you can add it to a basin of hot water with the salts for the foot bath, ideal for treating yourself to a moment of relaxation.

For the final test, the rule of thirty seconds applies: you smell the contents of the bottle and evaluate whether the wine has changed, then move on to visual inspection. If the colour is oxidised, duller, and darker, defects may already be present. Finally, you taste it: “And there aren't many alternatives here — concludes Tereza Budin — would I drink it or wouldn't I drink it? If the answer is no, then it's time to try one of the alternatives mentioned.”

Read the original article on ELLE Italy.