48 FEBRUARY 2021
BOTTLE SERVICE
2019 MASSICAN GEMINA ($32)
A tiny amount of retained carbon
dioxide contributes to the incred-
ible freshness of this stony, lemony
Napa white. A blend of Pinot Bianco
and Greco di Tufo, it sustains its
flavor incredibly well once opened.2018 CERETTO ARNEIS ($21)
This melon-y Piedmontese white is
made with a tiny amount of carbon
dioxide from fermentation still in
the wine. It tingles on the tongue
ever so slightly—and survives very
well over several days in a fridge.2019 COS PITHOS BIANCO ($35)
Sicily’s Cos ages this earthy,
amber-hued Grecanico in clay
amphorae, allowing the wine to
macerate on its skins for over a
month. It’s long been a go-to bottle
for fans of orange wine.2018 COENOBIUM RUSCUM
($30)
This herbal, appley orange wine
is made by Italian winemaking star
Paolo Bea for the sisters of the
Cistercian order in Vitorchiano, 90
minutes north of Rome.E’VE ALL BEEN THERE. Yo u
open a wine, have a glass
or two, put the cork back
in the bottle, and wonder:
How long is this wine still
going to be good?
The answer—like everything to do with
wine—is that it depends. What causes an open
bottle of wine to deteriorate is exposure to
oxygen, but various factors mitigate its effects.
For instance, Master Sommelier Pascaline
Lepeltier says, “I’ve found that wines exposed
to oxygen during vinification last longer, both
in aromas and texture; acidity is a plus; so
are tannins—which also means skin-contact
white wines.” Being a master sommelier, she
adds, somewhat dauntingly, “Also, wines with
pyrazines tend to keep those notes.” More on
that in a second.
To test out some of Lepeltier’s suggestions,
I opened 30 bottles and kept them open over
the course of a week. Sure enough, orange
wines (where white grapes are macerated on
their skins, adding tannins and an amber hue)
did well; the 2019 Troupis Ekato Moschofilero
from Greece crushed the competition and
tasted nearly as good on day seven as it did on
day one (a pity that only 1,200 bottles were
made). As Lepeltier predicted, wines that were
exposed to oxygen while being made—many
orange wines, again—seemed almost vacci-
nated against oxygen exposure later on. Both
Carmenère and Cabernet Franc, grapes with
lots of pyrazines, which give wines green pep-
pery and herbal notes, did well. So, too, did
white wines that retained a tiny amount of
carbon dioxide from fermentation—not fizz,
but a faint tingle on the tongue. And young,
intensely tannic reds did well. For all these,
four days was fine. By seven, though, even the
toughest had declined.
One thing: any open wine, red or white, will
last longer in the fridge. Just reseal it with a
stopper or cork. (If it’s red, take it out and let
it warm up a bit before you pour.) Wine pres-
ervation devices can also help. The ones shown
in the photos here were the most impressive
that I tested, extending the life of an open wine
by at least five or six more days. But still, I do
always wonder—if the wine was good in the
first place, why not just drink it?W
WINEPRO2
Two gas cartridges—one oxygen,
one argon—allow this ingenious
device either to oxygenate a wine
(much more effectively than aeration
devices, I found) or preserve it under
a layer of neutral gas. ($200, F&W
readers can use promo code
FW2021 for a 10% discount,
winepro2.com)