For many of us who enjoy wine, we will limit our daily consumption to one glass, 6-8 ounces, each evening, with the exception of weekend social engagements, which leaves us with half consumed bottles of wine on our counter. So the question that inevitably surfaces during my Wine Tasting 101 class is what is the most effective way to keep that precious bottle of Santa Barbara Pinot Noir or “Old Vine” Lodi Zinfandel as fresh as the first time you popped the cork?

Unfortunately, wine deteriorates quickly once it is opened and kept at room temperature. So, what can we do to minimize oxidation and maintain that wonderful fruit intensity that we love?

There are multiple devices currently available to the consumer at the local wine shops. Let us begin with the vacuum style pump, where you place a rubber stopper in the top of the bottle and pump or draw air out of the bottle theoretically preventing spoilage and accelerated oxidation. Unfortunately, for those of you whom are currently utilizing this device, there is conflicting data that supports whether they really work or not.

Another more proven method of wine preserving is using inert gas, such as nitrogen gas, that you can buy in a small disposable bottle. The idea here is that nitrogen when sprayed into the top of a bottle, between the wine and the cork or closure, is heavier and displaces the air/oxygen pushing it up and out of the bottle, hence minimizing the destructive effects of rapid oxidation that spoils your wine. Each bottle can preserve up to 100 bottles of wine. This nitrogen gas system is actually what the commercial wineries use when they bottle their product and what many fine restaurants use to dispense wines by the glass without worrying about oxidation. This blankets their wines with this inert protective gas.

Lastly, we come to the focus of this article – refrigerating and microwaving your wine. The very idea of refrigerating your wine at 40 degrees, which by the way will minimize oxidation and spoilage of wine for up to a week, and then popping it into the microwave to bring it up to a perfect serving temperature may sound absurd! But in reality it’s not.

Here is the procedure. After you have opened a new bottle of wine, pour the wine you want to drink, re-cork the bottle and place it back into the refrigerator. The next day, remove the wine and pour 6–8 oz. of it into a wine glass or microwave safe measuring cup and place it in the microwave for 15-20 seconds. This will bring the wine up to the perfect red wine serving temperature of 65 degrees. If the wine is still too cold, you can continue to microwave in 5-second intervals, making sure to swirl in between in order to compensate for the uneven heating of liquids within a microwave.

Make sure you don’t overheat the wine, which will ruin it. Industry scientists have proven that chilling and re-warming wine is the best method of preserving your wine. Wine experts surveyed could not tell the difference between a newly opened bottle of wine, and one opened a week ago using the method described above.

Relax, and enjoy your microwaved wine.

Happy Tasting! Brian