The great wine trick box

The cork is off the bottle. Of course, it has been for a while, because it's Saturday. I hope you were just as full of wine on Friday night as I was. As we speak, I'm with my girlfriends in Nijmegen, and you can bet there's some red and white involved. But that leads to those clumsy situations, which are very awkward and require some problem-solving. I'll help you with that.

Keep it cool

Did you toss a nice bottle into your bag or pull it off the shelf at the liquor store, and now it's warm? Naturally, that's logical, but it's important to get it cold as soon as possible. My age-old trick (or well, mine, mine) is to wrap the bottle in kitchen paper, wet it, and put it in the fridge. In less than ten minutes, you'll have a nice, cold bottle. If you're one of those rare types who likes to drink their wine nice and cold (even though that's not officially how it should be), you can make wine cubes from your favorite vino. I also had an eureka moment, yes, because then the wine is cold but not watery. Also fun: freeze white or red grapes and use them as ice cubes. wine The splashy kind.

Sometimes I'm so into my story that I just spill the contents of my glass next to my mouth. Yes, embarrassing. You get really nasty stains from that. Thank goodness I usually drink white. But if you find yourself in the unfortunate circumstance that your glass of red ends up on that crack-white blouse: again, kitchen paper AND table salt. Well, you have those items in every hospitality establishment.

Just keep lying there.

Look, we certainly don't want you to have to finish a bottle under pressure. As if that could be the case, but just imagine that you ever feel that pressure, then I have a technique. That bottle can be kept just fine, even after a day or two. Just do that preferably lying down and not standing up. I can relate, it's a luxury, that wine. But to prevent it from oxidizing, you should store the bottle horizontally. It stays fresh that way. I still need to try it, so guarantee until the front door. But it sounds ideal.

Simsalabim.

A good bottle within reach, but no opener? The horror, but help is here. The solution is just hanging on your keychain. Yes, the key. Insert the key at an angle into the cork and twist around the opening of the bottle, just until it's open.

Voilà, that's going to be wine drinking this weekend.

Because smart people drink wine and it's good for the figure, read.

The cork is off the bottle. Of course, it has been for a while, because it's Saturday. I hope you were just as full of wine on Friday night as I was... here and here maar even.