Recorking opened wine bottles.

[Rhyd6]

I realise this may well be a concept foreign to most people myself included but a friend of mine whose husband died last year was bemoaning the fact that she is unable to reseal wine bottles as she doesn't have the strength to push the cork back in securely. She and her husband were in the habit of enjoying just one glass of wine per night after their evening meal and although she has continued to enjoy this pleasure she finds that by the 3/4th night the wine has definitely lost something. Anyone know of any useful gadjets to overcome this problem?

R6

[88V8]

I realise this may well be a concept foreign to most people myself included but a friend of mine whose husband died last year was bemoaning the fact that she is unable to reseal wine bottles as she doesn't have the strength to push the cork back in securely. She and her husband were in the habit of enjoying just one glass of wine per night after their evening meal and although she has continued to enjoy this pleasure she finds that by the 3/4th night the wine has definitely lost something. Anyone know of any useful gadjets to overcome this problem?

R6

Have used one of these for nigh on fifty years. We drink a bottle over the course of three meals, it stays sealed for over a week.

V8

[Lanark]

VaccuVin does not really do what it claims, it maaybe lowers the air pressure by about 0.0001%

What works much better is just storing the bottle in the fridge and pouring a glass at least an hour before you drink it.

For the longest storage time, put the bottle in the fridge before you even open it so it is already at a low temperature.

If you find this hard to believe, get 2 bottles and test it: I guarantee you the fridge will win.

[DeepSporran]

We just decant the rest of the wine into one or more smaller empty screw top wine bottles - we have a 37.5 ml sized one and a little 18.75 ml one. I need to use a small funnel to fill the little one. All very low tech but effective at keeping as little oxygen as possible in contact with the left over wine.

[DrFfybes]

We have vac-u-vin.

Some years ago I was in France and all the tasting places used them. What was surprising was they never used the vacuum part and simply used them as stoppers, before putting the wine (red and white) in the fridge. They said the vacuum removed some of the volatiles form the wine and upste the balance, exacerbating the degradation.

Paul

[kiloran]

I've used stoppers like these https://www.amazon.co.uk/bottle-stopper ... e+stoppers for many years and they work fine.

Or buy bottles with a screw-top

--kiloran

[88V8]

Or buy bottles with a screw-top

[james51]

Stoppers from old sherry or port bottles work very well.

[genou]

If she has the budget for it, this works very well. https://www.etowine.com/

[UncleEbenezer]

I realise this may well be a concept foreign to most people myself included but a friend of mine whose husband died last year was bemoaning the fact that she is unable to reseal wine bottles as she doesn't have the strength to push the cork back in securely. She and her husband were in the habit of enjoying just one glass of wine per night after their evening meal and although she has continued to enjoy this pleasure she finds that by the 3/4th night the wine has definitely lost something. Anyone know of any useful gadjets to overcome this problem?

R6

Have used one of these for nigh on fifty years. We drink a bottle over the course of three meals, it stays sealed for over a week.

V8

Another vote for that kind of thing. Much better than just re-corking. Though IME all these solutions tend to work better with red than white wine: I've never had one turn bad even at well over a week, but whites can lose the best of their flavour.

VaccuVin does not really do what it claims, it maaybe lowers the air pressure by about 0.0001%

What works much better is just storing the bottle in the fridge and pouring a glass at least an hour before you drink it.

The air pressure is lowered sufficiently to create a loud "pop" of re-filling vacuum when the stopper is taken out.

Red wine in the fridge? Erm ...

Some years ago I was in France and all the tasting places used them. What was surprising was they never used the vacuum part and simply used them as stoppers, before putting the wine (red and white) in the fridge. They said the vacuum removed some of the volatiles form the wine and upste the balance, exacerbating the degradation.

Hmm, that sounds akin to just using a regular stopper, or even just putting a screw top back on.

[Watis]

I realise this may well be a concept foreign to most people myself included but a friend of mine whose husband died last year was bemoaning the fact that she is unable to reseal wine bottles as she doesn't have the strength to push the cork back in securely. She and her husband were in the habit of enjoying just one glass of wine per night after their evening meal and although she has continued to enjoy this pleasure she finds that by the 3/4th night the wine has definitely lost something. Anyone know of any useful gadjets to overcome this problem?

R6

Have used one of these for nigh on fifty years. We drink a bottle over the course of three meals, it stays sealed for over a week.

V8

I have one of these and was never sure it made any difference.

It's less successful when used on a bottle of prosecco though - DAMHIK!

Watis

[bungeejumper]

Have used one of these for nigh on fifty years.

It's less successful when used on a bottle of prosecco though - DAMHIK!

Thanks for the laugh. Yes, there's no point in applying suction when the wine itself is trying to blow bubbles at you. Whereas the cheap lever types (https://www.amazon.co.uk/bottle-stopper ... e+stoppers) seem to do half-decently with fizz and bottled beer - right up to the day when they suddenly don't. The rubber seals get old and crack, or else they distend, and that's that.

BJ

[Rhyd6]

Thank you for your suggestions especially the corks from sherry/port bottles and the decanting into smaller bottles. I've passed on your suggestions together with mine (wine box) so hopefully she can continue to enjoy a glass each evening.

R6

[simoan]

Thank you for your suggestions especially the corks from sherry/port bottles and the decanting into smaller bottles. I've passed on your suggestions together with mine (wine box) so hopefully she can continue to enjoy a glass each evening.

R6

Only way to properly solve this problem is to not take the cork out in the first place! We’ve been using a Coravin for over 10 years. https://www.coravin.co.uk/collections/all

All the best, Si

[88V8]

Only way to properly solve this problem is to not take the cork out in the first place! We’ve been using a Coravin for over 10 years. https://www.coravin.co.uk/collections/all

Ha! For much of the wine we drink, that would be like using a Rolls-Royce to tow a bicycle

V8

[Mike4]

Thank you for your suggestions especially the corks from sherry/port bottles and the decanting into smaller bottles. I've passed on your suggestions together with mine (wine box) so hopefully she can continue to enjoy a glass each evening.

R6

Only way to properly solve this problem is to not take the cork out in the first place! We’ve been using a Coravin for over 10 years. https://www.coravin.co.uk/collections/all

All the best, Si

To save people wrestling with that website, the "Coravin" works by injecting argon into the bottle to replace wine drawn out. I'd imagine the argon also ejects the wine under a bit of pressure but I didn't get that far wading through all the marketing-speke. The argon, they claim, protects the wine left in the bottle from degradation which would occur from contact with oxygen in air otherwise introduced into the bottle when poured.

[simoan]

Only way to properly solve this problem is to not take the cork out in the first place! We’ve been using a Coravin for over 10 years. https://www.coravin.co.uk/collections/all

Ha! For much of the wine we drink, that would be like using a Rolls-Royce to tow a bicycle

V8

Depends how you want to drink wine. The cost means little if you enjoy wine - a small fraction of a single dividend for a lifetime of enjoyment. It means you never have to finish off the same bottle, you can have a glass from a different bottle every night and you can leave the rest for another glass whenever you want so that you can see how the wine evolves with age. Of course, with most cheap wines using screw caps these days, it’s not much use for them anyway.

[moorfield]

I realise this may well be a concept foreign to most people myself included but a friend of mine whose husband died last year was bemoaning the fact that she is unable to reseal wine bottles as she doesn't have the strength to push the cork back in securely. She and her husband were in the habit of enjoying just one glass of wine per night after their evening meal and although she has continued to enjoy this pleasure she finds that by the 3/4th night the wine has definitely lost something. Anyone know of any useful gadjets to overcome this problem?

R6

We reuse some little plastic caps we have kicking about from cheapy bottles once bought in France, which reseal well for a couple more days. Just deployed one now, as Lady M has retired and I'm supposed to be running a 10k in the morning, so won't be finishing the bottle ....

Stoppers from old sherry or port bottles work very well.

Yes, these too.