Wine expert reveals her top tips including storing leftover tipple in a jar to keep it fresh
- last year
A wine expert says storing leftover tipple in a jar keeps it fresh - and a more expensive bottle helps avoid 'wine headaches'.
Connoisseur Warner Boin Dowlearn, 30, believes storing leftover wine in a jar with a lid - instead of putting the cork back in it - keeps the wine fresher.
She also suggests drinkers can avoid 'wine headaches' by drinking less and keeping hydrated.
Warner recommends people have a glass of water between each glass of wine to keep them hydrated.
Warner, from Sonoma County, California, US, said: "If you were to put the cork back on a bottle of wine that's half empty you'll see half of the bottle still has oxygen inside it and the cork will still allow oxygen to get into your wine bottle.
"You want to reduce the oxygen-to-wine ratio to keep it fresh and to do this I recommend using a jar.
"A winemaker that I used to work for told me something similar, he recommended just buying half bottles of wine and then you can keep any leftover wine in there.
"There is so much less oxygen in a smaller jar than the rest of a bottle - it will still make your wine taste fresh even a couple of days after you've opened it.
"Whereas a day after I open a bottle of wine and I put the cork back on I can tell the difference.
"I use this trick all the time, my friends use it, and it is really handy."
Warner also debunked the myth that wines get better with age saying "90 per cent of wines are meant to be consumed when you buy them".
"Most wines do not get better with taste. I would say that 90 per cent or more are meant to drink now," she said.
"The typical wines you will get on your supermarket shelf are not meant to age - it is only the really expensive ones that are."
Warner also explained how to stop 'wine headaches' many people endure after drinking.
She said: "There are a couple of factors people need to consider when it comes to wine headaches.
"It could either be the wine you're drinking or the amount.
"If you're having a reaction to wine, it could be the amount of sugar or additives in the wine or the amount we drink.
"Dehydration is the number one cause of headaches - make sure you drink water between alcoholic drinks.
"Wines contain natural compounds like sulphites, histamines and tannins that some people might have more of a sensitivity to.
"What worked for me was keeping a list of all the wines that I was drinking and noting down how I felt after drinking each one of them.
"I started to notice that when I was drinking American wines under $14 or $15 I was having negative reactions.
"As a result I switch to smaller production wines which include fewer additives."
Warner's top tips -
- Store leftover wine in smaller jars
- Drink water between alcoholic drinks to stay hydrated
- Make a list of wines your drinking and note down how you feel after it
Connoisseur Warner Boin Dowlearn, 30, believes storing leftover wine in a jar with a lid - instead of putting the cork back in it - keeps the wine fresher.
She also suggests drinkers can avoid 'wine headaches' by drinking less and keeping hydrated.
Warner recommends people have a glass of water between each glass of wine to keep them hydrated.
Warner, from Sonoma County, California, US, said: "If you were to put the cork back on a bottle of wine that's half empty you'll see half of the bottle still has oxygen inside it and the cork will still allow oxygen to get into your wine bottle.
"You want to reduce the oxygen-to-wine ratio to keep it fresh and to do this I recommend using a jar.
"A winemaker that I used to work for told me something similar, he recommended just buying half bottles of wine and then you can keep any leftover wine in there.
"There is so much less oxygen in a smaller jar than the rest of a bottle - it will still make your wine taste fresh even a couple of days after you've opened it.
"Whereas a day after I open a bottle of wine and I put the cork back on I can tell the difference.
"I use this trick all the time, my friends use it, and it is really handy."
Warner also debunked the myth that wines get better with age saying "90 per cent of wines are meant to be consumed when you buy them".
"Most wines do not get better with taste. I would say that 90 per cent or more are meant to drink now," she said.
"The typical wines you will get on your supermarket shelf are not meant to age - it is only the really expensive ones that are."
Warner also explained how to stop 'wine headaches' many people endure after drinking.
She said: "There are a couple of factors people need to consider when it comes to wine headaches.
"It could either be the wine you're drinking or the amount.
"If you're having a reaction to wine, it could be the amount of sugar or additives in the wine or the amount we drink.
"Dehydration is the number one cause of headaches - make sure you drink water between alcoholic drinks.
"Wines contain natural compounds like sulphites, histamines and tannins that some people might have more of a sensitivity to.
"What worked for me was keeping a list of all the wines that I was drinking and noting down how I felt after drinking each one of them.
"I started to notice that when I was drinking American wines under $14 or $15 I was having negative reactions.
"As a result I switch to smaller production wines which include fewer additives."
Warner's top tips -
- Store leftover wine in smaller jars
- Drink water between alcoholic drinks to stay hydrated
- Make a list of wines your drinking and note down how you feel after it