We often get asked about half bottles. We don't currently import any. In part, that's because the ratio of glass to wine means their carbon footprint is pretty terrible. But that doesn't mean you have to down a whole bottle in one sitting.
We often recommend that you give wine in our range a fair amount of air before you drink them, and price can be a good rule of thumb for how much air a wine needs to really get the best out of it (here's the link to our cheat sheet on that topic). But it's worth making the point that those recommendations are really a minimum amount of time. Particularly for wines that are still considered 'young' for their styles, improvement can continue over the course of days.
Ideally you would let the wine breathe with the use of a decanter for the bottles that really need a lot of oxygen, because just taking the cork out doesn't give a lot of surface area to work with. But if you pour half a bottle to have a few glasses and then put the cork back in, the effect will be pretty similar on what remains in the bottle.
If you're anything like us, the thought of leaving good wine out overnight, or for days at a time, is a bit terrifying. Growing up on sub $30 SA reds will do that to you. Delicious, but give it a day in a half full bottle and it's going down the sink.
We've had many recent experiences that prompted us to write on this topic. The most impressive example was when we opened two of Domaine Sohler's Alsace Pinot Noirs over a weekend. We had left a glass of the 2018 and 2022 in the bottles, put the corks back in and left them on our kitchen counter (note: this is the worst place in your house to store wine). 4 days later, we had a taste, just out of curiosity. We hadn't vacuumed the air out, or stored them in the fridge, so after 4 days we were expecting to be disappointed. But they were actually pretty wonderful. The 2022 in particular had really smoothed out the tannins, integrated the oak flavours and lifted the fruit aromas. Four years ageing in the bottle is preferable, but this was a pretty stunning improvement.
We have previously had a similar experience with some of the Cagliero Barolos too. And it's not just at the top end of our selection. Cecilia Monte's Langhe Nebbiolo can show very well over the course of a day or more. The Tuscan Sangioveses are similar.
And it's the same for some of the whites. The Riesling from Kuentz Bas was still fresh and vibrant a full week in the fridge after opening.
We wouldn't recommend doing this with any sparkling wines, or particularly delicate aromatic whites, but otherwise, experiment away!
If you feel like just a sneaky glass or two, don't be afraid to open up a bottle and consume it over the course of a few days. Best results will be when you also store it in the fridge (lower temperature slows the chemical reaction between the wine and oxygen), but if that's a red make sure you remember to bring it back to room temperature before your next glass. We'd love to hear how you find it.