8 Clever Ways to Use Up Your Leftover Wine
Updated: Aug. 22, 2017Don't let that unfinished bottle go to waste! Read on for 8 ingenious uses for leftover wine.
Make artisanal vinegar
Pour a red variety into a jar of non-pasteurized vinegar and leave it alone, stirring weekly. Within a couple of weeks, you’ll have “artisanal” vinegar. Try out these other ways to use vinegar around the house.
Flavor-boost soups and stews
White and sparkling work best in creamy or clear and brothy soups (think chowder and simple vegetable), while red wine goes well with tomato or beef-based varieties (think chili). Add a few generous splashes per portion. If you’re on a diet, make sure to watch out for these soups that are bad for weight loss.
Poach fruit
Poach pears, apples, peaches, or plums in red wine and sugar. Let simmer in the liquid for ten minutes.
Use it as a fly trap
Fruit flies? An open bottle with even the smallest bit of wine left can serve as a flytrap. Flies will gravitate toward the bottle instead of your fruit bowl and will be unable to escape. These are the most dangerous bugs that you need to watch out for this summer.
Whip up fluffy eggs
Add any sparkling white wine like champagne, prosecco, or cava to omelets for an amazingly fluffy dish. While you’re beating the eggs, pour in approximately one tablespoon of bubbly for every two eggs.
Freeze it
Freeze in ice cube trays (eight cubes = one cup) to add flavor to sauces and stews.
Make a delicious sauce
To make classic steamed mussels, combine leftover white wine (a little less than half a cup per pound of mussels) with butter and garlic.
Beautify your home
If your only leftover is, ahem, the bottle: Use the empty vessel as a fuss-free and beautiful flower vase.
Sources: Estancia Wines, Cooking Light, drinkaware.co.uk, Bon Appétit, phickle.com