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In article >,
says...
>
>Hello,
>If this is a dumb question, please forgive me, I am an amateur. My friend,
>who drinks wine all the time, says once you open a bottle of wine you have
>to drink it immediately or it will go flat and lose it's flavor. I've had
>opened bottles of wine for weeks and can't taste the difference. Is what
>she is saying true?
>Thanks!

Wines that are opened will change. If you do no more than stick the cork back
in, the changes will be greater. Will the changes be bad? Depends on your
tastes. Will it change? Yes. If you take precautions, like nitrogen purge,
vacuum closure, refrigeration (reds & whites), the changes will be less. Can
you notice the changes? Depends. How long can you use the above, or similar
storage techniques, before you can tell a difference that pushes the wine into
the bad area? Again, depends on your tastes. That there is change, in, and of
itself, is not necessarily bad. It's when YOU feel that it is bad, that it is.

It could well be that your friend can tell the difference, and for whatever
reason doesn't like the change. The same wine might not effect you in the same
way - you may actually like it better. That is one of the reasons that wine is
do fascinating, because it is appreciated by so many, on so many different
levels.

You might want to experiment with two bottles of a wine that you know and
like. Open one, sample it then just stick the cork back in. Give it a few
days, and uncork it, tasting it along side the other bottle and see which you
like best. Some pointers: a young Bordeaux might well benefit for the
oxidation more than, say a CA Zin.

Hunt