How long can you keep a opened bottle of wine?

[Kcwhippet]

WWL, First off, this is NOT a flame, just some info from stuff I've learned ITB. OK, the Vacu-Vin is strictly a marketing success, and the claims made for it's ability to prolong the life of an opened bottle of wine are right on the edge of credulity. The ONLY way for the Vacu-Vin to be truly effective is for it to pull a perfect vacuum and take out ALL the oxygen. It doesn't do that, and it can't do that no matter how many times you pump it. You should also know that while you're pumping out some of the air in the bottle, you're also pumping out a lot of the volatile esters. Besides not opening the bottle at all, the best way to keep the oxygen to a minimum is to very gently decant about as much of the wine you think you're not going to dring all the way to the top of some smaller screw top bottles (like the 4-pack bottles of Sutter Home White Zinfandel) and putting the bottles in the fridge. Next best is Private Preserve.

[This message has been edited by Kcwhippet (edited 02-20-2004).]