Sauternes question

[Bill Hayes]

I plan on enjoying a bottle of Sauternes with the missus tomorrow with some cheese and duck liver parfait and then a Cohiba 1966. Been looking forward to this for a while. I was wondering if anybody knows if you can open a bottle of Sauternes and not drink it all and pop the cork back in and save it for another day in the fridge? If so, can you do the same with pedro jimenez style sherry and port and put it back in the cupboard? Was hoping to drink perhaps half the bottle then swap to champagne.

[Fuzz]

Done it plenty of times with Pedro Ximenez sherry. Crack open a bottle and finish it off over the next few weeks. I've used one of those air removing pumps on a bottle of Sauternes, then popped it in the fridge. Lasted about a week.

[BrightonCorgi]

PX you can put back in the fridge no problem since you're likely to only have a small glass since it's so cloying.  Sauternes has a similar shelf life as regular wine once open.  I would keep the bottle in the fridge the whole time.  I would also start with Sauternes and then move to Champagne.  I like to increase the acidity and/or tannin as the night progresses.  Once open, the Sauternes should be good for 3-4 days in the fridge.  Depends on the initial state of the of the wine.

Hats off to you if you can finish half a bottle of PX in one sitting.

[Ken Gargett]

agree with all this. no problem it going back in (if you have a spare half bottle, fill it and put it back as less opportunity for oxygen).

as for the order, for me it would depend very much on what you were having with them. a sauternes can be a bit overwhelming and if the champers is a delicate one, you might kill it.