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How long can I keep an opened bottle of wine for?
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If for some reason you´re struggling to finish a bottle of wine, how long you can keep it for largely depends on the quality and style of the wine (so you may as well finish off your £2.99 bargain-basement bottles in one go!). It also depends on storage conditions, so it´s pretty impossible to generalize.
We would however, recommend storing open wines in cool conditions for not much longer than 2 to 3 days.
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What does it mean if a wine has good legs?
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Legs are the streams of the wine that you might see on the sides of the glass after you´ve poured it. Legs basically indicate the wines alcoholic content. The slower the legs move down the sides of the glass and the more there are, the higher the alcohol level in the wine.
Legs are good because
a) you don´t need as many glasses to get that rosy glow and
b) alcohol is a preservative so a wine with ´good legs´ is probably a good quality wine that will preserve for longer in the bottle.
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How can I tell if my wine is faulty?
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It´s quite uncommon thanks to modern bottling techniques, but the most common bottle wine faults are;
Corkiness: The wine smells musty or tastes bitter because the cork has polluted the wine. (Obviously this can´t happen with a screw top!)
Oxidation: If the wine has been closed badly, stored either for too long or in the wrong way then it may have been affected by oxygen. This can mean it smells like sherry or a white wine may change colour to a deep golden colour (although dessert wines are actually this colour, so don´t get confuse them and throw a good dessert wine away by mistake!)
Secondary Fermentation: If you open and drink a non-sparkly wine but it you can taste and see slight bubbles then unwanted yeast may have got in contact with the finished wine and started a secondary fermentation. (Occurs with sweet and medium white wines)
Vinegary Nose: If bacteria got in contact with the wine - then the wine would have a vinegary nose´ (i.e. vinegary smell!)
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Is cork or plastic the best type of bottle closure?
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As with every argument there are 2 schools of thought, but cork is more eco-friendly and plastic is good for short life wines.
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What´s the alcoholic strength of wine?
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Still light wines and sparkling wines generally range between 8% abv (alcohol by volume) and 15% abv. Although these days most are above 11% abv. Liqueur wines like sherry and port have an alcoholic range of 15% to 22%, so be careful!
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Why are white wines served cooler than red wines?
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Whites tend to taste better cool as it makes the wine taste crisp and refreshing because the cold tones down residual sugar. But be wary because having it too cold (below 5 degrees) will diminish the fruit and density.
Red wines contain a higher level of natural tannin and acidity. So a cool red will often taste too harsh and bitter as the acidity is heightened. However a red served too warm can end up tasting stewy and toffee like. Happy mediums!
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Why do some wines give you a headache?
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If youre sensitive to histamines (which are found in the skins of the grape) then you may be more likely to get a headache and red wine will have more of an affect as its spent more time in contact with grape skins.
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Is wine fattening?
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The calories in a glass of wine range from about 80 to 100 calories. (That´s a 125ml glass not the huge goblets we seem to have today!)
Again common sense, but lighter wines tend to have fewer calories than heavier wines.
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What does ´vintage´ wine mean?
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On the wine label the vintage year is the harvest year of the grapes from which the wine was made. A wine with a vintage date must be made from at least 95 percent of grapes harvested in vintage year.
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Why do wine tasters smell wine?
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Check out our great Wine Tasting Guide .
Wine smells can give you many clues as to how the wine will actually taste, where it comes from and from what grapes it was made.
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Can you drink red wine with fish?
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Yep! Check out our Food and Wine page for more info. Basically drink what you feel tastes good to you, as everyone has their own opinion. The traditional school of thought is if a red is chilled, then yes you can drink it with fish, but perhaps not with very oily fish.
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Should you ever chill red wine?
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Yes, it can be delicious! Try wines made with the gamay grape and Beaujolais and Loire Valley reds. Cool red goes well with most dishes but as with white, don´t allow it to get too cold! 20 minutes before serving, remove it from the fridge.
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What can I do with those dregs left over in the bottle?
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Incase you didn´t know, never throw wine away! Both red and white table wine is great to use in cooking (think soups and casseroles and marinades!). If you want to keep it for longer the best idea weve been told is to freeze the wine in ice-cube containers, then you can just pop a few out when you need them for that impromptu dinner party! Don´t worry about sending drivers over the limit or feeding children with it, as the alcohol evaporates when heated.
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