How to store an opened bottle of wine

I used to think that the best way to store an opened bottle of wine was to stick the cork partway in the neck and put the bottle (red or white) in the refrigerator. The thought was that the coldness would slow the natural process of oxidation to such a reduced rate that one could enjoy the wine up to a week or more later.

Supporting the above theory, read this:

As a final thought, and in keeping with the discussion above, be sure to store your opened bottle of wine in the refrigerator. If you must keep an opened bottle of wine for a few days, the best place to store it is in your refrigerator which is typically at a temperature of about 41°F (5°C). The chemical reactions leading to spoilage (primarily oxidation-reduction) will be slowed down by a factor of 6 to 16 times compared with storage at room temperature (about 73°F). Therefore, a wine should last 6 to 16 times longer in the refrigerator than at room temperature. Red wine can be poured in a glass and allowed to slowly warm before consumption or put in a microwave oven for 15-20 seconds.

1Re-published from The Alchemist’s Wine Perspective^™, Issue One, November 1996.© 1996, 1998 by Alexander J. Pandell. All rights reserved.

However, what is Life if not the chance to keep learning? A grapebreeder friend of mine, who is a very accomplished chemist, explained to me that the temperature of refrigerators is only cold enough to slow oxidation by only 10-20%, and he advises that the opened bottle of wine should be recorked with a Vac-u-vin rubber cork and then the accompanying pump should be used to pump most of the air out of the bottle. Only then should the wine be stored in the refrigerator.

If you are the cautious type, you should probably follow the second method. If you think every situation is a laboratory experiment waiting to be performed, why not try it both ways with two identical opened bottles of wine, and compare?

As mentioned in the above excerpt, to drink a red wine stored in this manner, simply pour it in a glass and microwave the glass for 10-14 seconds (depending on your microwave's power and your desired ending temp of the wine). We have done this for years and it does not seem to impair the wine's quality. To drink a white wine stored in this manner, simply pour and drink (or if the wine's a bit too cold--after all, most Americans drink their red wines too warm and their white wines too cold), simply pour it and let it sit in the glass for a few minutes.

If you do not properly store an opened bottle of wine, all is not necessarily lost: Certain very youthful red wines will benefit from air exposure, as that, like heat, can hastens aspects of aging. This is how a young big red can improve after decanting (exposure to oxygen). But for all other wines, if you aren't going to store an opened bottle correctly, then you should consider finishing the wine at one sitting, if possible (and for goodness' sake, do not do that if you are going to be driving a car or bicycle, or doing anything else where being impaired is unwise).

Here is information on the Vac-u-vin pump system.