Wine storage,I had asked a previous question, got some good answers, and have a follow up question.
This has to do with wine and long it will last after opening. I will be more specific on the type of wine and length of times.
Sunday Afternoon around 3PM I opened up a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon (Estate Grown 2006) – This, I believe, is a Dry Red Wine. I used a cup of it for cooking purposes. After using a cup of it, I put the cork back in as best I can, though I am not saying it is in there 100%. I then let the corked bottle of remaining wine sit on my kitchen counter up till now, very late Tuesday Night…So it has been just over 2 days since the wine was opened and partly used.
This Saturday I plan on using wine, again, in my cooking, and wanted to use the same wine I had used this past Sunday. I would like to duplicate the dish I made on Sunday, so I would like the wine to add to my sauce in the same way. I am not planning on drinking this wine.
Should I:
1. Throw it out and get a new bottle for this Saturday?
2. Simply leave it corked and refrigerate it?
3. Can I freeze it to use it on Saturday (Again, just for cooking purposes)
I have read articles saying how the content of the wine can change once air is let in, and also if you freeze it, and then I read that using wine in cooking (especially, I believe, when deglazing and then simmering) will tend to burn the alcohol off anyways….So, considering all of this, what do you guys think?
Jason L // Jul 17, 2010 at 8:05 pm
What’s happening is that the wine is oxidizing, reacting to the air, even the air that replaced the cup that you used to cook with.
There really isn’t anything you can do about it. Wine is intended to be drunk or used upon opening, at the most (if drinking) the next day. Refrigeration slows bacterial growth, but that’s not what’s happening. It’s oxidizing.
Red wine, unfortunately, is very reactive to air. That’s why it’s opened 20 minutes before being served or decanted. Also, why red wine glasses are so big, to maximize exposure to air. While it needs to "breathe" before and while drinking, it then continues to oxidize to vinegar.
You’ve actually done the best you can do. You re-corked it and I assume you didn’t leave it in the Sun. Freezing will change it, by removing water from it; probably increasing the vinegar taste if it has turned. Under normal circumstances, wine does not need or benefit from refrigeration. If it makes you feel better though, by all means put it in the fridge.
It is probably going to be okay for cooking on Saturday. There are other factors: oxygen is denser at sea level and thinner at elevation, so wine lasts longer in Denver than San Diego. Regardless you should both smell and taste the wine before cooking with it, because that’s what you’re going to get in your food. The alcohol is burned off in cooking; you’re adding wine for the taste of it. If it smells or tastes vinegary, and that’s not the taste you want in your food, then you’ll need a new wine.
plumdumplings // Jul 17, 2010 at 8:05 pm
Absolutely. Just toss it in the fridge and use it again.
I’ve been seeing plenty of talk recently about freezing wine to maintain it (for drinking, not just cooking!), but you don’t need to do that since you are cooking with it.
http://www.winetrail.com/storingafteropen.html
http://social.richmond.com/blog/Genevelyn/2009/04/freeze-the-leftovers/