I have to laugh at that question, "every" time.
Drink it or toss it.
I mean, why keep an opened bottle of wine? I find it hard to fathom there might be an opened bottle of wine that you would want to "keep" past today anyway.
The great bottles go down too quickly - no chance for contemplating about how to "save" the leftover wine. [Side note: I really don't believe in any leftovers of any kind... to-go boxes, doggy bags, etc.]
And the crappy wine you didn't finish? You want to save it for tomorrow because you didn't like it today? That doesn't make any sense to me. Wine only gets better with age left unopened.
So, now that we've covered the "great" bottles of wine and the "crappy" bottles of wine... there might actually be a couple real dilemmas out there.
Hypothetical Dilemma #1: Really good bottle of wine was opened, but it is too much for one person to drink. What do I do?
Answer: Find a friend already. Go next door and offer a glass. Share the love. In fact, that "really good" bottle of wine will go to "great" after sharing it with someone.
Hypothetical Dilemma #2: Pretty good bottle of wine was opened, but instead of making a fool of myself and drinking the whole bottle, I would like to split my stupidity over 2 nights instead of 1.
Answer: It doesn't really matter how you keep it as long as you drink it TOMORROW. There is not really any good way to keep a bottle past 12-24 hours, although there are a few methods that will make it just fine the next day. Easiest is to put a cork in it and throw it in the refrigerator. Pull it out 20 min before dinner or 20 minutes before noon if you're "that" kind of drinker (read: April Rhodes alla Glee from last night's episode).
There are a few other clunky wine keepers that others swear by - but I mostly just feel silly using them. The classic is the wine pump that attempts to suck the air out of the bottle. In theory this is logical.
#1: Vacu Vin Wine Saver (avail at Cost Plus / World Market... THIS IS THEIR IMAGE):
This one is hands down the commoners solution to the opened wine problem. Everyone has one. As do I. If your dilemma is #2, and want something more elegant that jamming the cork back in the bottle, then go ahead and get this. $9.99 @ World Market.
#2: Metrokane Velvet Wine and Champagne Sealer (avail at Cost Plus / World Market... THIS IS THEIR IMAGE... (pictured on the right) ):
I recently got this one for dilemma #2. I just like the form factor - I'm not sure it does anything more than the cork could do. But it does make it look like I'm at least trying to preserve my wine without looking like a dork pumping air out of the bottle with a plastic wine pumper. Also @ World Market.
Note: I also see that Metrokane has a fancier wine pump - The V-Gauge Wine Preserver (pictured in the middle). This might be the best solution - pump air out, but it looks a little more fancy. I don't have one ... but by day's end I might.
But see this is where I get back to square one. Why again am I trying to save a bottle of wine?
