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Revisiting Leftover Reds
It’s not always easy to finish off a bottle of red wine. Especially after a long meal that started with whites. You want a few ounces of liquid cassis to wash down the chocolate mousse, but once sated, you can’t take one more pour. So, when it comes to keeping that half bottle drinkable for the next day, what do you do, dear?*
There are many techniques for preserving next day reds, each with its own consequence. Some people like to store re-corked bottles in the refrigerator. The idea is to slow the oxidation process, but it also slows down the drinking process the next day, when you’re waiting for the bottle to defrost. Decanting into a half bottle is good for a long-term holding, but it still means aerating the wine. Vacuums are kind of a good idea – certainly good for the pecs – but you never know what you’re pumping out besides oxygen. Nitrogen gas is for industrial users and might do more harm than good at home.
For me, the best action for preserving red wine is none at all. I just re-cork the bottle and leave it on the counter to sort itself out without intrusion. When 90% of what I drink is new to me, it hardly makes sense to tamper.
In fact, I prefer to finish a firmly built young red the next day. If it’s a well-made wine with strong tannins, it usually tastes better with exposure time. Like the living thing it is, the mouthfeel becomes smoother, the nose more open and more complexity is revealed.
Once such red is the Sierra Los Andes 2008 Malbec. For an affordable wine, it demonstrated the ability to unfurl while remaining remarkably stable after 24 hours. It is pleasant and immediately quaffable upon opening, but by the next day if develops a rich, velvety mouthfeel and more vibrant notes of kir, cassis, plum and mint. Given time, it becomes a more elegant, complicated version of itself and for a Bordeaux-style wine that is a beautiful thing to experience.
Moment de Plaisir 2008 Grenache is a Vin de Pays D’Oc with over-the-top ripe fruit and hairy tannins that will sizzle your tongue after opening. A Vinturi is appropriate at this point, but the next day the palate smoothes out considerably while revealing more wood, spice, black pepper and chocolate flavours. Same ripeness, softer approach.
So don’t be afraid to revisit that leftover red the next day. It just might astonish you.
* From the Maurice Sendak-illustrated book of the same title by author Sesyle Joslin
Comments
1) Ruth - 01/29/2010
http://www.travelthruhistory.com
You mean there's left over red wine??? (well I guess you could throw some of it into a wine sauce for something like chicken cacciatore.
2) Mari Kane - 01/30/2010
http://marikane@marikane.com
If you have Wine Attention Deficit Disorder like me, sometimes wine gets leftover. But taste it before throwing it into a hot pan. It might still be drinkable or actually improved.