I use a vac-vin system to lengthen time but there is some debate about it’s effectiveness, luckily the vac-vin can also be used to pressure laminate wood. But I have had some good reds that I think were still good after a week using that system. Whites last longer in the fridge assuming they aren’t s sparkle-ling.
Depends on the wine (well, it would). Full-bodied red wine maybe a week. It depends on ambient temperature - cooler is better. The wine shops around here sell a little vacuum hand-pump thing with rubber stoppers which allegedly stops the wine from aerating after it’s opened.
There are all sorts of stories about putting a spoon in the neck of a champagne bottle. This is nonsense. Champagne will stay fizzy for two or three days if it’s kept in the bottle, even half empty.
The “finished in the same evening or throw it away” sounds like a plan if you intend to get your guests intoxicated. Throw it away? Here’s a clue. When we was cycling in France, and staying two nights at each hotel, the waiters would put your name on the bottle and the cork back in the top and you could finish the bottle the following night. Maybe the best hotels don’t do that, but it’s a straw in the wind.
Why not peruse this site http://www.winemaking.com/ and learn to make your own.
My Methiglyn recipe :-
3kg of heather honey
3 litres of pear or apple juice
a champagne yeast and a burgandy yeast
2 sachets of yeast nutrient.
2 demijohns to make the wine in.
dilute the juice to make up 2 gallons of mixture then dissolve the honey into the mixture. Heating the mixture can help in dissolving the honey.
Add one sachet of yeast nutrient and the burgandy yeast to the mixture and then put it in the demijohns to ferment (note this can take some time).
When the fermentation finishes, decant about a pint of the contents of each demijohn into a container, add the yeast nutrient and the champagne yeast to the container and mix. Put the resulting mixture back into the demijohn and wait for the resulting fermentation to end and the wine to clear.
Please drink this responsibly (if you do it right it comes out sweet and lethal 
)
David
Hey Big Davy - you sound far too responsible to be living in Larkhall 
Sounds nice though - knocked back with a wee buckfast chaser.
I should maybe post my Birch wine recipe - not too long before it can be started. At least come February ‘ish’ the trees can be tapped for sap with good result.
cheers
Stephen
Medic!!!
You are just itchin’ for a fight I just know it.
A bottle lasting more than one night?
Is that even possible?
Whites just get a cork and reds I have a vacuum topper and they go back in the wine fridge.
Just keep them in a dark cool spot and they might be good for another day or so. If I don’t hate them but not too interested in them they go in the regular fridge and I’ll cook with them. Still… they won’t last very long.
Steve Shaw… that man drinks wine. I’d wager a large amount. 
I love Cab, but a lot of people who aren’t used to wine prefer a Merlot. A great and affordable Merlot is Tin Roof, it is so good.
A great and affordable Merlot is Tin Roof, it is so good.
Cool name!–I may have to try it just for the name if I can find any locally.
Sounds more like a beer name, goes right with “Fat Tire,” “Turbo Dog,” and the like.
–James
Yep, Errazuriz, Cono Sur, Casillero…and Isla Negra, I nearly forgot. All good value wines from Chile. Argentina can be good too. There’s a lovely brace here called Trapiche, a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Sauvignon Blanc. Try Argento Malbec or Argento Bonarda. Malbec is almost the “national grape” of Argentina and it’s usually good stuff. Trivento is another reliable brand. I’ve yet to encounter a Pinot Grigio or Viognier from South America that I didn’t like. No-one’s mentioned Rioja. I love a good 'un, brilliant with roast lamb. They range from pretty average to superb, so fish around. There is significant vanilla-ish wood in Rioja, but it shouldn’t be overly tannic or repressive in a nice one.
Not in my house it isn’t
No one has mentioned finding a wine merchant that hosts a weekly tasting. There is one near where I live and I’ve gotten to taste some really great wines. Can’t afford them, but at least I had a taste.
I think their next tasting is “affordable daily wines”, what ever that means.
Same here, when we drink wine, I drink about 2 and a half bottles myself, and my uncle is 3 bottles. We usually have around 13 bottles with my family. 
I had Three Blind Moose and Toasted Head just last night, they were great! Ghost Pines is around 20 bucks, but it is worth it. I started drinking Raven’s Wood because of the Celtic symbol, and it turned out very good too. Try Pinot Grigio or Pinot Noir too if you have a chance.
My dad is a huge wine buff, he worked at Burns Steakhouse for a long time, it has one of the largest wine cellars in the world.
Any of these work for you peeplj? Think local. You could always drive to a vineyard that is close, flip a coin to decide who the designated taster is and make it a day. If the taster thinks one is worth trying, the other can try it and give it the yea or ney.
From the sounds of it you may like a Shiraz, it can be a middle to sweet wine with a good body to it, or a Riesling.
Mmm…I love Shiraz. That’s a great listing, I.D. Thanks for posting it! 
naaaaahhh… I just like what I like.
I forgot to mention that Ive also never met a grigio that Ive liked… except here
noirs, Ok, but grigio… 
ew.
hehe… no problem there.
Its just you are gonna get some really cross Kiwi and Ozzys with that kind of talk.
Pinot Gris…
I have has some horrid Grigio but some really nice ones too.
Good when its really hot out and the wine is really cold.
Italian and Californian can be light crisp tangy and grassy.
Kind of like a gin and tonic… well not really but I find it as refreshing.
I also mentioned French Rosé.
I love a good dry Provencal rosé.
Inexpensive and good.
Floral and with fruits like strawberry and a bit of pepper.
The Spanish also make some really good rosados. They tend to have a bit more body and spice.
I usually drink it in the middle of summer with a few ice cubes.
Don’t be fooled.
Its not your momma’s Pink Zinfandel
That pink crap producers in the states tried to pawn off on us in the past.
I’ve seen an increase of rosé being offered here in SoCal in the last few years and some California makers have started to make it in the French style. Haven’t found one made here that I like yet.
Best part about it is that it is a young wine and its meant to be poured down the throat pretty soon as its in the bottle.
Makes for a less expensive bottle and that means more bottles… and good times.
Summer is over.
Yep.
Stop looking at me like that… you are making my heart flutter.
Someone suggested you visit Arkansas wineries and I second that. A visit to a winery plus a tour can be a nice expedition. You can get a tasting sampler for either free or very little and learn a lot too.
I’ll also plug Virginia wines, some are very good.
Wines are so specific to the area, the year’s weather, the wine maker, the variety used, etc.
I found (back when we had a vineyard and winery) that folks new to wine tended to prefer sweeter milder wines and often those were white.
It just takes time and tasting. Plus, remember that many wines’ taste will change depending on the food pared with them. My dh loves chocolate with cabernet sauvigon. I, on the other hand love a very oaky red with anything. Heck, I love a white with oak, I just love oak. Maybe I oughta just gnaw on a tree…
Oh, and ice wine. Now that’s something for a special occasion that is truly wonderful if you get a good one. We were able to make one only one year, when we had perfect conditions, and it sold out in less than a week. It was “The Frosty Maiden” and tasted a lot like peach soda to me.
I won’t suggest specific ones, since everyone’s taste is different. You’ve just gotta try them. Yummy.
A vacu-vin will help to keep a bottle for a few days-but trust me- when you find one you really love, that won’t be an issue.
There have been some great wine names over the years. One of my favorites- I think it was Californian- was named “Poision” and sold in a coffin shaped box.
Wine lables are strictly regulated and can tell you a bit about what’s inside too. Not just by how pretty/interesting, but the actual info. Gee, I use to spend days sweating over getting everything just perfect on a new label submission. It had to be or the ATF would shoot it right back to you.
dang girl! 'didn’t know ya done wine!
Summer of 1975 a friend and I went to Napa. We stopped by Stag’s Leap to visit with some guy my friend knew. Came away with a case of 1973 Cab…
spoilt fer life