Life
Though the majority of us might low-key celebrate the existence of wine every day, Friday, May 25 is the official National Wine Day, which basically means you're just going to have be a bit extra to make your celebratory efforts really count. And what better way to show off our love of fermented grapes than with some informational wine content to share? You're going to want to know about some of the best wine hacks to try on National Wine Day this year, because wine lovers appreciate nothing more than ways in which they can improve their wine drinking. Yes, the only thing better than drinking wine is learning how to drink wine better.
Here's a list of fun hacks that not only make drinking wine easier, but also ways to enrich your drinking experience and quality. From how to open a wine bottle without a wine key, to how chill a warm bottle of white wine, you're going to be glad to have these hacks in your back pocket. Lucky for us, National Wine Day falls on Memorial Day weekend, so we're already in host and party guest mode, meaning there's no better time to have some wine hacks to impress our friends and guests than during holiday festivities.
How To Chill A Warm Wine Bottle
This hack is courtesy of the wine experts over at Vivino, the wine-app that supplies ratings, prices, and reviews of mostly any wine in existence (aka, they know their stuff), and it's seriously awesome: If you need to chill a warm bottle of wine but only have a few minutes to get it to a drinkable temperature, simply wet a paper towel with cold water, wrap the towel around the bottle, and then stick it in the freezer for 10 to 20 minutes. Done!
How To Make Wine Ice Cubes
Another way to chill a wine is to add ice cubes to it. But as they melt, they water it down and make the wine taste terrible. Instead, freeze grapes and use them to chill your drink. They're a coolant and a snack all in one!
How To Open A Wine Bottle Without A Corkscrew
Another pro-tip from Vivino: If you don't have a wine screw, you're not screwed. There are still ways to open the bottle without sabering it! Take off your shoe and put the wine bottle in it. (Just trust me.) Note, the bottom of the bottle should be where your heel would be if you were wearing your shoe. Next, carefully hit the bottom of the shoe, wine bottle inside, against sturdy wall. After a few bangs, the cork will eventually pop out. Of course, be careful not to break the bottle!
How To Strain A Fallen Cork
If you screw up your cork removal and your cork breaks into the wine bottle, grab a coffee filter and place it over the bottle opening. Pour the rest of the wine though the filter to keep the cork bits from ending up in anyone's drink!
How To Remove Red Wine Stains
Though red wine stains look intense and like they'll never disappear, they're actually pretty easy to fight. All you have to do is pour some salt on the stain, leave it for an hour and then wash it away with water. You can add a little bit of club soda when you clean off the salt to help loosen any lasting stains.
How To Quickly Aerate A Wine
You don't need a fancy decanter or aeration device to bring quickly air out a bottle of wine. All you have to do is put it in the blender — forcing some air through it will do the trick. Just make sure you don't blend for more than 30 seconds, you don't want to heat up the wine.
How To Properly Store An Opened Bottle Of Wine
To keep a bottle of opened wine fresh in your fridge for as long as possible, store it on its side. That will help keep the wine from oxidizing and will allow it to hold onto its flavor for bit longer than if you store it right side up.
How To Fix A Gross Wine
We've all been there: You get the $5 bottle of wine because it's all you can afford and you tell yourself that it's better than nothing. But then when you try a sip, you realize it's not better than nothing at all. To brighten up any cheap wine, add some club soda (plain or fruit flavored), and make it a spritzer.
