How to Store Leftover Wine

I know, I know, it’s rare that you have any wine left over, but there are those times that you might start a bottle and only get halfway through. What are your options? You can pop the cork back in and drink it the next day. It’ll still be palatable, but definitely deteriorated. You can get one of those do-hickeys that sucks the air out of the top of the bottle and seal it with a vacuum. Those work fairly well.

Now there’s another choice for keeping the open bottle of wine fresh for many days. I got my hands on a sample of a PlatyPreserve, made by Platypus, a company known for water storage systems. I must admit that I laughed out loud when I first saw the thing. It’s essentially a plastic bladder that expands when filled with wine. You simply pour your leftover wine into the opening on top, put the cap on partway, squeeze out the air from inside, screw the cap tight, and voila, your wine is fully sealed with oxygen-free environment.

You feel a bit stupid pouring a decent wine into this plastic casing, but who cares. It’s not like you’re going to be serving it to guests the next day (hopefully not, anyway). I tried it out a few times, and it actually works stunningly well. The PlatyPreserve is easy to rinse out with hot water. The wine I tried was three days old and tasted perfectly fresh. It’s not the prettiest product, but I'm addicted to it because it works. At $12 a pop, it’s worth a shot – if you don’t mind pouring your Pinot out of a bag.