FAQs, Volume I: The Riddle of the Unfinished Bottle…and some notes on inert gas

Well, it’s early in the life of this blog, so in this case a single inquiry constitutes a frequently-asked question.  My long-time friend Bruce Grossberg tuned in to The Vinous Voyager and noticed that I often refer to wine that has been “under gas” in my reviews.  It sounds a little sinister, but it’s really pretty innocuous, and has to do with a query that I used to hear pretty frequently when I worked in wine retail.  Often, if someone is dining alone, and can’t finish an entire bottle, they wonder if there is some way to keep the wine fresh. 

There are a couple of options available if you have an unfinished bottle.  I used to use a device called a Vacu Vin.  It’s essentially just a rubber stopper with a small slit in the top and a plastic pump.  You pump the air out of the wine by hand, and it prevents the wine from oxidizing.  This worked pretty well for me when I lived at sea level – but it’s less effective here in Colorado, where the air pressure is different. 

Consequently, I followed the advice of my former boss Scott Haveness, and started to use Private Preserve, which is an inert gas.  You simply spray two or three times into the bottle, while holding the cork on the edge of the opening – and re-inserting the cork as quickly as possible after you’re done spraying.  So, when you see a reference in my tasting notes to a wine that has been “under gas,” this simply means that I’ve used this inert material to keep the wine from spoiling.

For that unfinished bottle: The Vinous Voyager's wine preservative of choice...

I find that Private Preserve works quite well here in the mountains.  It keeps the wine tasting recognizably the same – but with a little twist.  In my experience, a tiny bit of oxygen usually manages to make its way into the bottle after I’m done spraying.  This seems to mimic the effect of decanting; wines that have been under gas sometimes gain some interesting aromas and flavors that would normally emerge only after having been open for many hours – or having spent some time in the cellar.  It seems to speed up the evolution of the wine a bit, which is a nice fringe benefit. 

I’ve had wines that have stayed in good shape for four or five days when I’ve used Private Preserve.  Nobody’s paying me to say this, but I think it’s a great tool for wine-lovers. 

(For the record, no one has yet tried to bribe The Vinous Voyager.  We’ll see if I keep my integrity intact when the readership increases and producers start to offer me blandishments…)