Fourteen Wine Hacks or a Wack? Part Two

This is Part Two of my review of the 14 Practical Wine Hacks that Are Here to Save the Day, published by CNN. As mentioned in my last post, I only counted thirteen hacks in the article so I will cover the remaining six. Unlike last month, I am happy to report that many of these are truly hacks or at least semi-hacks, focused on what to do with leftover wine. There is one that feels like a Martha Stewart wannabe moment gone complicated. Check them out!

8. Whip Up a Slushy

SEMI-HACK. This is technically a frosé hack. Frosé is a wine cocktail that originated from Bar Primi in New York City. Since its inception less than a decade ago, frosé has grown in popularity. Today, you can find frosé in many restaurants and even ballparks during summertime. The original recipe calls for freezing rosé, some vermouth, and muddled strawberries. Because of the alcohol content in rosé, it may take up to six hours to freeze. Several shortcuts have since emerged, which skip the step of freezing rosé. Instead, you freeze the berries and blend them with the rosé.

Frosé by John Rodriguez on Unsplash

9. Make a Wine Cocktail

HACK. Not a particularly new idea, but yes, you can make sangria from leftover wine. Sangria is a wine cocktail that came from Spain and Portugal. The standard sangria recipe calls for wine with chopped or sliced fruit, some sweetener, and a liquor. The author’s shortcut recipe skips the liquor and uses a splash of soda water.

10. Make 2-Ingredient Red Wine Vinegar

SEMI-HACK. I once tried making my own vinegar from a batch of homemade wine that had gone acetic. As it turned out, it is harder to make good vinegar than good wine. My vinegar got moldy. Maybe it is because I haven’t mastered the science behind vinegar making the way I have with winemaking. So yes, theoretically, you can make vinegar out of oxidized wine. But it is harder than you think!

Acetic acid by CA Creative on Unsplash

11. Make Wine Syrup

HACK. This is really a wine reduction with sugar in a 3:1 wine to sugar ratio. I haven’t tried this since we don’t do much dessert at home. But it is worth a shot if you’d like some wine syrup over ice cream, fruit slices, or pancakes.

12. Reduce Oxygen Contact to Make Wine Last Longer

HACK. While minimizing air contact by putting leftover wine in a smaller container is a wine hack, the explanation offered by the author is kind of wack. The suggestion that screwcap wines taste fresh for longer than bottles with cork closures is only true so long as the bottle has not been opened. Even then, the difference is minuscule given that oxygen ingress via natural cork is only about 1 mg a year. Wine experts would also argue that micro oxygenation offered by a cork, as opposed to an anaerobic environment from a screwcap, helps the wine develop its complexity.

Opened bottles by Ibrahim Boran on Unsplash

Once the bottle is opened, it is no longer about the closures nor the surface area. It is all about the headspace or the amount of oxygen in the bottle. When you transfer leftover wine into a smaller jar, depending on the width of the jar, you are not necessarily reducing the surface area of the wine that will be in contact with oxygen. But you will be reducing the headspace. 

13. Chill Wine with DIY Frozen Wine Holder

SEMI-WACK. I confess that I am no Martha Stewart. The instructions to create this frozen wine holder may be for someone with more time, DIY flair, and freezer space than I do. The steps include freezing a see-through container with some water and an empty wine bottle, taping the bottle in place, filling the container with more water and whatever floral and fruit combo, refreezing them all, and finally transferring wine into the bottle.

Ice mold wine chiller from C&B

This DIY idea is likely inspired by Crate and Barrel’s Ice Mold Wine Bottle Chiller. My friend owns one of these, and I thought it was really cool. Plus, the use of the store bought version requires a fifth of the DIY steps and half the freezer space. For $45 a pop, I’d rather get the Crate and Barrel chiller or order a knock-off from Amazon for a few bucks less.

This completes my review of the wine hacks published by CNN. Do you know of any other cool wine hacks to share? Or maybe a wack?