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So you can pick up where you left off Bottle For Wine
The Spruce Eats / Amelia Manley
It’s no secret that an opened bottle of wine can quickly turn into your best wine vinegar if left on the counter for a few days. Though you can always stuff the used cork back into the bottle, that isn’t the best solution for keeping an opened bottle fresh. Once a wine is exposed to air, the process of oxidation begins. This causes the wine’s aromas and flavors to start deteriorating and spoils even the best wines in a matter of days. A pierced cork will allow more exposure, but wine stoppers delay that spoilage.
Revolutionized by a plastic pump with vacuum sealing, wine stoppers now regularly keep your wine fresh for weeks without looking industrial. Black silicone seals off your open bottle, and stainless steel accents resist corrosion from the acid in the wine. There are even stoppers to keep your bubbles bubbly.
Fits a variety of bottles
Allows for bottles stored horizontally
Low price reflects potential lifespan
Wine stoppers preserve your wine by creating airtight seals, but preserving the bubbles in sparkling wine requires an extra tight seal. The Rabbit Champagne and Wine Sealer can do both—and looks sleek and hi-tech while doing it.
To use, place this matte black plastic stopper over the bottle's neck and twist it clockwise. As it’s turned, an insert seals the bottle. The tighter twist, the tighter the seal. This adjustable insert is designed to fit different sizes of wine bottles, including wide-mouth ones, and prevents drips when a bottle is stored horizontally. We found that the sealer was easy to use, not requiring too much torque, and that it preserves the bubbles in sparkling wine extremely effectively. Hand-washing is recommended.
Material: Plastic | Dimensions: 2 x 4.4 x 4.9 inches | Dishwasher Safe: No
The Spruce Eats / Jesse Porter
Doesn’t work with carbonated wine
For value and ease, look for a simple bottle stopper with a tapered design. These silicone and steel stoppers from Rabbit can preserve your wine for a few extra days. All you have to do is plop them in the bottle. These cone-shaped stoppers have flexible ribs that ensure a tight seal in any bottle. Just push the stopper into the bottle and remove it with a single pull.
Rabbit’s models are durable and dishwasher safe, making cleanup a cinch as well. This set includes four wine stoppers in a range of subtle colors—which we found was helpful in reminding us which bottles we'd sealed on which days. We also found that the versatility of these stoppers, compliments of the tapered design, allowed them to work effectively with beer or liquor bottles as well.
Material: Silicone | Dimensions: 3.5 x 4 x 1 inches | Dishwasher Safe: Yes
The Spruce Eats / Jesse Porter
Requires a lot of pumping
When you pour a glass of wine, the space you create in the bottle fills with air. The air goes to work on the wine, in a process known as oxidation. While some oxygen can bring out the best in wine, over the course of a few days the airflow will mute the flavors and cause the wine to spoil. Vacuum sealers are designed to pump air out of wine bottles and slow down that process. Vacu Vin’s Wine Saver Pump and Stoppers brought this technology to the masses, and the original model is still one of the best.
To use, first seal the bottle with the included rubber stopper. Then, use the Vacu Vin pump to draw out until there’s resistance. When it’s time to pour another glass, break the seal by pinching the rim of the stopper. We've used this time and time again to make a Thursday happy hour bottle last until Sunday afternoon, and even after a year of use, the stoppers are as good as new. These flexible stoppers fit most red and white wine bottles, but won't keep the bubbles going with a sparkling or frizzante wine.
Material: Plastic, silicone | Dimensions: 3 x 2 x 6 inches | Dishwasher Safe: Yes
If you pour a toast of Champagne and have a few splashes leftover, a sparkling wine stopper allows you to re-cork the bottle, save the bubbles, and set it away for when you’re ready for another glass (or a Mimosa). This professional-grade preservation system clamps into the bottle to perfectly preserve the effervescence of the bubbles for up to three days.
Since the stopper clamps around the neck of the bottle, it prevents the carbonation in the bottle from pushing the stopper off and exploding the wine in your fridge. Once it's on, we've experienced the pressure remain for at least a week, even if the bubbles have faded. That patented self-tightening seal is the brainchild of inventor Walter Fortunato (WAF), and it seals so tightly that you can leave the bottle of Champagne on its side in the fridge.
Material: Metal | Dimensions: 2.5 x 2 x 1.5 inches | Dishwasher Safe: Yes
Versatile for different sizes of bottle openings
For a wine closure with a simple and functional design, yet which makes quite an aesthetic splash, look no further than these lux bottle stoppers from RBT by Rabbit. Made of hand-finished metal and silicone rubber, these black-and-gold stoppers are a terrific accent piece when you can't quite finish that special occasion bottle.
Besides being very stylish, these bottle stoppers are quite versatile as well, as we found that the tapered design ingeniously accommodates bottle openings that may be either narrower or wider than usual. While they don't provide as tight a seal as a twist model, and therefore don't allow for horizontal storage of your open bottle, they'll make quite an impression when you pull the bottle from the fridge for next-day enjoyment.
Material: Cast metal, silicone rubber | Dimensions: 2.54 x 1.21 inches | Dishwasher Safe: No
The Spruce Eats / Jesse Porter
Preserves wine for four weeks
Greatly extends life of wine
Need to repurchase argon capsules
Coravin’s newer Pivot system combines the practicality of a wine stopper with the technology of its flagship wine preservation system. By inserting food-grade argon gas into the open bottle, this will extend the life of wine and allows you to drink it up until a month later, which is why we love it for your special occasion bottles.
After you open the bottle, immediately pop on the Pivot stopper. The stopper will carefully seal the bottle so when you’re ready to drink the next glass—either later that day or four weeks down the line—it will be just as fresh. The stopper extracts the wine by inserting the Pivot device until it clicks, then simply tilt the bottle and preserve the wine. Each Pivot includes one injection device (available in a range of colors), one argon gas cylinder, two stoppers, and a quick start guide.
Material: Plastic, stainless steel, elastomers | Dimensions: 3.5 x 1 x 7.75 inches | Dishwasher Safe: No
Showcases the date on the stopper
Saves wine for up to two weeks
Does not work with refrigeration
For the power of vacuum sealing without the fuss of an extra pump, consider Sunwuun’s small vacuum stopper. This silicone and plastic device can save your wine for up to two weeks.
Place this stopper over an open wine bottle. To activate the seal, push down on the top button a few times. Once the bottle is vacuum sealed, a stopper keeps wine fresh for up to 14 days. The top of this device features clever design. The outer portion is marked with numbers 1-31. When you seal the bottle, turn the inner portion to line up with the corresponding date, and you’ll have no trouble remembering when your wine was opened.
Material: Silicone | Dimensions: 4.41 x 3.11 x 2.13 inches | Dishwasher Safe: Yes
Doesn’t fit all wine bottles
A wine stopper with a pouring spout that can help your wine taste better is a winning combination. This two-in-one version from OXO flips between these two features with a small, soft lever.
The stainless steel pourer provides an even, drip-free flow while also aerating your wine. Flip the lever down to give the bottle an airtight seal. Flexible silicone ribs on the stopper mean it can accommodate most wine bottle sizes, and the whole stopper is dishwasher safe.
Material: Stainless steel | Dimensions: 1.5 x 1.5 x 3.5 inches | Dishwasher Safe: Yes
A rubber chicken? That’s just classic comedy. This adorable wine stopper is funny and functional. Made from 100% food-grade silicone, Fred’s “Coq au Vin” wine stopper is designed to be placed head-first into open bottles of wine. The flexible material will form a tight seal just below the wing, preserving your bottle and leaving two chicken feet sticking straight up in the air. The tapered torso will fit into most wine or soda bottles. Hand-washing is recommended to maintain this stopper’s good looks.
Material: Silicone | Dimensions: 0.92 x 0.83 x 4.01 inches | Dishwasher Safe: Yes
If you’re looking for an individualized present for a wedding, bachelorette, or another special occasion, these monogrammed wine stoppers make great favors for those near and dear. These wine stoppers from Etsy come in quantities of 1 to 400, and can be personalized with everything from your initials to the date of the occasion. Their sentimental designs will remind your guests of your glamorous event every time they use them, and with a gift this practical, that will be often.
The stopper is made with natural wood and Portuguese cork, then engraved with a laser. The stopper fits most wine bottles.
Material: Cork | Dimensions: 0.76 x 0.43 x 1.1 inches | Dishwasher Safe: No
Works with still and sparkling
Doesn’t extend the life of wine
Silicone is a rubberlike material that’s used in the production of many kitchen and bar tools. It’s durable, heat-resistant, dishwasher-safe, and can be produced in every color of the rainbow. This four-pack of silicone wine stoppers from Outset is an easy way to quickly seal any open bottle of wine.
These flat-top, colorful stoppers preserve still wine and sparkling wine with an airtight seal. The all silicone construction means the stoppers are durable and flexible for easy removal.
Material: Silicone | Dimensions: 1.5 x 2.2 inches | Dishwasher Safe: Yes
For a wine stopper that will work to preserve all your wine (including sparkling wine) and fit most bottles, our top choice is the Rabbit Champagne and Wine Sealer. If you'd like your bottles to last more than a few days, it's time to invest in the Coravin Pivot Wine-by-the-Glass System.
There are many varieties of wine stoppers. Some are made with cork; others use silicone or rubber to provide the seal. While they are designed to provide an airtight seal to keep your wine fresh, some are also funky or elegant in their looks. From monograms to a variety of colors and shapes, wine stoppers can not only keep your wine happy and fresh but provide a cute or elegant topper, too.
The functionality of a wine stopper should be taken into the equation when deciding what you want in this useful tool. They can keep an open bottle of wine fresh for a few days, or vacuum-seal it. There are even some that provide the handy feature of being both a stopper and a pour spout. If you want to be able to lay the wine bottle on its side, you'll want one that provides a leak-free seal, too.
Some wine stoppers are made to fit a standard-size wine bottle, while others are able to expand and fit most any size bottle. A number of stoppers will not fit screw-top bottles, so be aware of this when searching for the right wine stopper for you.
When you just can't finish that bottle of wine, a wine stopper is the key to keeping it fresh for a few days or even weeks. It can replace a cork that originally came out of a bottle and doesn't go back in easily or one that got broken in the process of uncorking the bottle in the first place. Simply put the wine stopper in the neck of the wine bottle and place it in the refrigerator where it will be ready and waiting for you to pour that next glass of wine.
The type of wine stopper you get will determine how long it will keep that bottle of wine fresh. Some stoppers simply plug into the neck of the bottle and keep the wine fresh for a few days, while other stoppers can pump and vacuum-seal the bottle to provide an even tighter seal, allowing the wine to stay fresh for up to two weeks or an even longer.
A wine stopper with a vacuum pump capability allows you to remove air from an opened bottle of wine. It will help you to not only to get a good seal but to slow down the oxidation of the wine itself.
To compile this list, our team of editors and contributors spent hours researching the best wine stoppers on the market, evaluating their key features, like ease of use, material, or price. Additionally, we relied on our own home experiences with our favorite wine stoppers, and only recommend ones that are able to minimize oxygen exposure or maximize the amount of time our sparkling wines stay bubbly.
Madeline Muzzi is a Certified Sommelier and freelance lifestyle writer. Her writing has appeared on sites such as Eater, Heated, and Elemental, and her videos have been published on The Cut and in The New Yorker.
Kate Dingwall updated this list with a few new recommendations. She is a Toronto-based food and drinks writer, who holds a Wine & Spirits Education Trust Level III qualification.
Jesse Porter opened a number of bottles to test out our recommendations. He has worked as a sommelier, a bartender, and a spirits rep, all work where wine might be left open for a day or two between tastings.
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