Wine Stoppers
From LoveToKnow Wine
Practicality vs. Esthetics
Wine stoppers are probably ½ art and ½ practical. There are certain types of stoppers that help preserve your wine if you do not finish the whole bottle of wine, and then there are others that are just for looks, but in reality do nothing for preserving the wine in the bottle. Besides the corkscrew, I would say that from working at a winery for 2½ years I’ve seen wine stoppers be one of the top-selling wine accessories. So let’s take a look at the different kinds and see if they actually do what they are supposed to do: preserve wine.
Cork
The first type of bottle stopper is the cork you pull from the bottle. Although this may sound simple, it’s what most of us probably do: open a bottle of wine, have a couple of glasses and, because there is still wine left for the next evening, might as well put a cork in the bottle, right? The problem is, the cork usually can’t go back into the bottle the way it came out because it is more moist at the bottom, where it was in contact with the wine in the bottle before you pulled it out, so inevitably what we do is just turn the cork around and put it back in, and voila! Sound familiar?
Preservation?
The question is, does this really stop the wine inside the bottle from spoiling? The answer is a hesitant yes…yes in the fact that it doesn’t allow constant exchange of air into the bottle. It also doesn’t allow any of the fruit flies clamoring for your luscious wine into your bottle, which is always nice...believe me, nothing is worse than a big ‘ol sip of fruit fly-laden wine. Mmm. The reason it’s not a definite yes for preserving your wine is the fact that there is still air in the bottle when you put the stopper in. That air, which contains oxygen, makes your wine in the bottle breathe, regardless of the cork being in there. If you are going to drink the rest of the bottle in the next day or so, this is no big deal. In fact, in some cases where you open a big, young red wine the extra day of being open usually softens up the tannins and brings out more depth and flavor from the bottle.
Gassing
So, what about those cans of inert gas that you can spray into the bottle so it displaces the oxygen, thus stopping the oxygenation (aging) of your wine? The bottles themselves are confusing, you pick them up and they feel empty because the gas inside is so light! Many wineries use these when they don’t pour all their wines during the day's tasting. They will gas what they have remaining, put corks in the bottles, and then use them again. This process slows the aging process, but again, it’s hard to displace 100 percent of the oxygen from the bottle. So while it slows the spoiling process, it is still a good idea to consume the bottle as soon as possible from the time of opening. So what other stoppers are there?
Cork with Art
Well, perhaps the most popular of all of the stoppers is the cork stopper, but with some sort of art piece glued to the top. We’ve all seen this; they have everything from geometric shapes, to hand-blown glass shapes, to funny little characters sitting on top of the cork, and so on. But the fact remains that they’re still a cork, which we’ve already talked about. So unless you gas them, you’re still looking at the same problems of wine spoilage. here is one more option.
Vacuum Sealing
The last type of stopper available to you is the one that is rubber vacuum sealed. You know the ones: the dark grey, boring looking rubber things that you put into the bottle and place the little pump thing over and pump all the air out. But like the inert gas, it’s impossible to get ALL the air out of the bottle because oxygen is in the liquid itself, and it’s not a perfectly controlled environment to get a perfect seal, so again what you’re going to do is end up slowing the spoiling of the wine after you open it, not stop it. But perhaps getting an extra two or three days out of your wine is all you need. In that case, this option or the gassing option might work for you.
Champagne Stoppers
I did want to mention the champagne stopper. The champagne stopper is the one that has a rubber part that you push into the bottle and two “wings” come down from the side and clamp to the side of the bottle to seal it. Here is a secret, and from working at a champagne house I can tell you it’s true: those don’t work. Gasp! I know, it’s shocking, but it’s true. Those stoppers do not stop the bubbles from leaving the bottle, and you can figure this out quickly on your own. What happens when you take those stoppers off the bottle the next day to pour a glass?
PFFFFTTTT!! Air escapes. That air is the bubbles from the wine, and the stopper just held it in the bottle, NOT in the wine where it needs to be. The only sure-fire way to slow the flattening of your bubbly is to keep the bottle as cold as you possibly can. The colder the better. It’s fun to actually see this work…take two bottles of bubbly, open them both, pour equally from both and put a stopper on one and none on the other and stick them in the fridge and you will see for yourself no difference. Try it.
Enjoy In Time
So while stoppers can slow the spoiling process of the wine, they can’t stop it. Wine is personal, so why not personalize the stopper on it? The best rule of thumb is to expect to drink the bottle within two days of opening it, and if you use gas/air pump, you can maybe add one or two days to that. So needless to say, plan on consuming that bottle and not letting it sit for a week or two to revisit. Whatever you do, enjoy it…just don’t wait too long. Good things come to those who wait, but other times better things come to those who don’t.
Learn More
This page has been accessed 11,679 times. This page was last modified 05:38, 4 December 2008.
© 2006-2008 LoveToKnow Corp.
