Post a Comment On: Viti-Culture

We've all noted that wines change dramatically after the bottles are opened. Often they need a little time out in the air. I've noticed that every now and again I even prefer a red on the second day. On the 3rd day it's often still drinkable, though past its prime, and the 4th day it's time for the drain.

I wonder, do wineries plan for this? I suppose hitting it's peak the same night after it's out of the bottle is probably the preferred timing of such things, but I admit, the second-day peak delay is something I kind of like. I'm the only wine-drinker in this household, so there's no way the bottle gets finished in one night. I like the idea that "leftovers" can actually be better. It's something to look forward to - "I wonder what that cab has done with itself while I was gone? I'll taste it tonight and find out!" Sadly, sometimes it's a dud.

It does seem to me though that there might be a market out there for wines for sale in varying portions. Personally, I would love to see single-glass portions, perhaps in little boxes, like juice or milk. The price of single servings would mean that it would be a lot easier to try new wines, since the money risked would be a lot less. Note that this advantage would disappear if buying single-serve packages was priced similarly to glasses of wine in a restaurant. Asking 5 dollars for a glass when the bottle is 10 is going to offend people. Single servings would make wonderful sense if they were priced proportionately to the regular bottles. I bet a lot of single women (growing wine demographic!) would love this.

Edited Later to Add: Huge Johnson is way ahead of me on this single-serve packaging thing.