There are lots of reasons to have leftover wine. Maybe it has gone a little past its best or you cannot drink it right now for some reason, e.g., taking medication or going travelling. Regardless, leftover wine never needs to go to waste.
Don’t freeze unopened Champagne / sparkling wines
Never freeze unopened sparkling wine – it can explode and ruin both your wine and your freezer. Your sparkling wine will also lose its sparkle.
Freezing wine for cooking
Red and white wine can be frozen to use later for cooking delicious recipes with wine, e.g., red wine pasta sauce, poached pears in red wine sauce or a Port gravy. So, if you have leftover wine that you don’t want to waste, freeze it. The simplest way to freeze wine is to make ice cubes. Use covered ice cube trays to prevent freezer burn or put the ice cube tray in a sealed bag.
You can also measure out specific amounts, e.g., 1 cup or ½ cup and freeze in a suitable container. Allow extra room for the wine to expand when it freezes in the container.
How long you can freeze wine
Use frozen wine within 3 months of freezing. You can freeze it for longer, it won’t be harmful to your health, but it may develop freezer burn and not taste very nice.
Can you freeze white or red wine to drink after opening it?
Extremes of cold and heat can damage wine, so freezing wine after opening to drink later is not recommended.
If you drink wine on a regular basis, it may be worth investing in a vacuum or inert gas system to make opened wine last longer. With a vacuum system, the oxygen is removed from the bottle and the bottle is sealed. Inert gas systems use various gases (that don’t react with wine) to prevent it from coming into contact with oxygen.
Note: Vacuum systems are not suitable for sparkling wine – they will lose their fizz.
Using a freezer to chill white wine quickly
White wine will chill quickly in the freezer, but if you forget about it, you will end up with frozen wine. A safer option is to consider investing in a white wine chiller stick. Store it in the freezer and use it to quickly and safely chill your next bottle of white wine.
Alternatively, chill wine quickly in equal parts water and ice in a bucket.
