-
- How long does it take for a wine to lose it's taste?
Good afternoon everybody
I am originally from Dublin (Ireland) and am currently working in a vineyard in The South of Italy. I was having a dinner with some friends of mine the other night, I had bought a bottle of wine for the occasion (a nice bottle of Amarone not too expensive). My friend saw an opened bottle of Saint Emilion (which fell into my bag at Vinitaly in Verona) in my kitchen, he then asked me why don't we drink that instead of the Amarone. I said why not as I couldn't remember when I had opened the bottle and thought that the taste couldn't have changed that much. I remembered opening the bottle about a week before, drank a glass and then put it back on the shelf. The wine was excellent a week before, very fruit driven and round on the palate. When my friends tasted the wine, they said it wasn't a good wine and that I was "ripped off" paying €35 on the wine. These patriotic Italians also concluded that in general French wine is overpriced (btw I love Italians).
I thought about this some days later and felt that their opinion of this wine was unjust given to the fact that it was opened one week before. I then spoke to a professor of enology from the University of Udine who told me that 3 to 4 days after opening most wines begin to lose their flavour.
I wonder should there be a system to see if the wine is too long out of the bottle, or if something exists to avoid these problems. I have tried the taps that you put on the bottles before but it seems that they lose the taste all the same (they might last one or two days longer max).
Have a great weekend to all
Gavino
-
251
285 - Reply by oceank8, Jul 25.
What you say is pretty much the way it seems to be. After a few days of being open, it turns into wine that I would only use to cook with. The vacuum pumps do help to prolong it for a few more days. Putting it in the frig helps slow this process down as well (even red, just let it sit out a bit before you start drinking it again). The only wine I have found that lasts for a very long time after being opened is a port because it is fortified.
-
26
1 - Reply by Christopher76, Jul 26.
I experienced the same problem a few weeks ago with a shiraz. The wine was fantastic when I first opened the bottle, but after a few days, it lost a lot of its flavor.
I have found that the best method for prolonging a wines flavor, is to drink it within a reasonable amount of time. No more than a day or two.
-
942
1594 - Reply by Philip, Jul 26.
Yeah, i was going to say the same as Ocean said - the top of the line answer is to use nitrogen instead of oxygen - you can buy $100 systems for this, and thats what restaurants might use. This would give you 45-60 days of flavor.
Cheaper methods (and what i use) are: decant into a smaller bottle (i have a few half bottles lying around), use a vacuum pump / cork and then stick it in the fridge.
Basically you are trying to cool it down so that it reacts slower, and to remove the amount of oxygen for it to react with. At a pinch these methods make the wine last 4-5 days.
Ocean - with port, i think its only the cask aged ports that last like this (things like LBV, Tawny, etc), the expensive Vintage ports that are aged in the bottle are very fragile as they've not been toughened up by prolonged exposure to oxygen.
Maderia (although i dont like the taste) lasts for 100 years, so maybe give that a try...
-
251
763 - Reply by mark, Jul 28.
Good suggestions. I bought a Vacuvin vacuum pump recently on a suggestion elsewhere in Snooth Talk. I love it.
http://www.vacuvinonline.com/wine/586735/
-
33
44 - Reply by WineGent, Jul 30.
Philip hit the nail on the head. I keep some 375ml (half-bottles) on hand to hold leftover wine. I vacu-vin the bottles, and can generally get 2-3 days without noticable loss of quality. Actually, with younger wines, it can sometime taste BETTER the next day.
The best way to ensure no loss of quality is to imbibe the entire bottle. Isn't 750ml a single serving?
-
2
1 - Reply by Vine Master, Jul 31.
Gavino,
First off, Wine is always changing & aging. As long as a wine is exposed to air it will age at an accelerated rate. Depending on the wine, it's age, & the storage conditions; this can be a few hrs or even a week. I have had well crafted young high end Century Old Vine Zinfandel (with ~5% Petite Sirah) be better a day or two later & still be good a week later. I opened a bottle of 18 year old cab that was closed upon opening, an hour later was very good &1/2 hr later totally gone.
Wines are as alive & different as people.
What temperature did you store that bottle & was it consistent?
