Didn’t Finish the Bottle?
Yes, you tried, but you just could not finish the whole bottle of wine. No reason to worry, you do not have to down it all in one sitting. Or perhaps you had a party and offered several types of wine, each of which were sampled but not finished. You do not have to throw the unfinished wine away. You can save it and finish it off later. Depending on what you are drinking, many methods are available to save whatever is left over.
The type of wine you are drinking dictates where you will store it after it has been opened. White and rose wines are best served chilled, so they will definitely go into the refrigerator after the bottle has been opened. Red wine is served at room temperature, so putting it in the refrigerator is not always necessary. If you are going to drink it within a short period of time, it can stay out. If you want to keep it for a few days, it should be refrigerated. Once a bottle of wine is opened, the clock is ticking on how long it will remain good to drink. You can usually get up to a week out of an open bottle, as long as there is at least half a bottle left.
One of the most important things to look out for is air making contact with the wine. When a bottle of wine is opened, air makes contact with the contents and immediately starts the process of oxidation. Some oxidation is necessary to prepare the wine for drinking. Too much oxidation makes the wine go sour, rendering it undrinkable. To slow the process, you should at least put a stopper or cork into the bottle. This will keep any new air from getting in. A more effective tool is a vacuum sealer. A vacuum sealer usually has a topper that goes into the wine bottle to form a seal, and then a pump which draws the air from the bottle. This leaves a vacuum seal inside of the bottle, slowing the oxidation process and allowing the wine to last longer than it would with just the cork put back in. This will not let the wine last indefinitely, but it will give you a few more days to finish the bottle. That can be extremely valuable if the bottle of wine was expensive.
Going beyond a vacuum device, a product is available that allows you to replace the oxygen in the bottle with an inert gas. The gas settles over the wine and stops the oxidation process. This causes the wine deterioration to slow down significantly, letting you store the previously opened wine bottle for a longer period of time. It will still not last indefinitely, but it will give you plenty of time to find the right time to finish it.
The act of opening a bottle of wine should not mean that you have to drink it all now. If you want to save it for a little while, you can.