Ever struggle to finish an entire bottle of wine? Maybe you live alone like I do, and an entire bottle is a bit too much. (No judgment here if you don’t have that problem.) Or perhaps you just threw a dinner party and are left with multiple half-drunk bottles of wine.
Whenever I’ve run into this problem, typically I just put the cork back in the bottle, stick it in the fridge, and call it a day. But despite my best efforts to finish the rest of the bottle in a day or two, before I know it it’s gone bad and no longer has the juicy, lush flavor it once did. (What a waste!)
It’s clear I need a better solution. Luckily, in a recent TikTok (@confidenceuncorked), sommelier and wine educator Warner Boin Dowlearn suggests a foolproof method using an item you already have in your pantry.
See, the enemy here is air, which causes wine to oxidize and go bad quickly. “Corks are porous. This is still gonna allow oxygen to get into your wine. Not great,” Dowlearn explains. Experts at Wine Enthusiast are in agreement stating, “Even when re-corked, wine will continue to change rapidly once opened, and can soon become overly oxidized.” (This is the same natural process that causes your apple slices to go brown when left out.) The oxygen may even cause the wine to taste flat or like balsamic vinegar or pennies, or have a darker hue to it.
To keep that wine fresh for as long as possible, you need to reduce the oxygen-to-wine ratio. Her solution? A Mason jar.
Simply pour your leftover wine into a Mason jar — specifically one that has a lid with a tight seal and is roughly the size of the amount of wine you have left. Seal it tight, and voila! Your wine will still taste fresh even a couple of days after you’ve opened it. Why? There’s so much less oxygen in the jar than if you were to leave it in the bottle.
It doesn’t have to be a Mason jar, either. Dowlearn says, “In desperate times I’ve cleaned out a kombucha container and used that.” However, glass is preferred, as it won’t alter the taste like plastic would.
This method also works for both red and white wine. To ensure ultimate freshness, place your jar of white wine back in the fridge immediately and only take it out once you’re ready to use it. “For red, put it in the fridge if you’re not planning to finish it the next day. Then pull [it] out an hour before drinking so it comes to room temp,” Dowlearn says.
Rather than just take her word for it, we decided to put the method to the test. Our Senior Editor, News & Features, Paulina Jayne Isaac, decided to give it a run on a half-open bottle of malbec wine, and was wildly impressed with the results. “I didn’t think the rest of the bottle would fit into a small Mason jar, but I was able to store it and save it for another occasion. I will definitely be implementing this brilliant tip into my life moving forward!” she said.
Vacuum pumps also work, however Dowlearn mentions the Mason jar method often works even better — plus, it’s free! Of course, you could also just finish the whole bottle.