What to to with dud wine?

[jackal10]

This time of year there is an annual problem: what to do with dud wine, such as the bottle of barely drinkable port someone well meaning but basically ignorant has given you. Maybe its part of the seasonal present giving, or won on the school Christmas raffle or tombola, or something someone ill informed has brought to a party or a dinner.

You accept them, not wanting to give offence, but then you are stuck. You could not possibly serve them to guests, nor take them elsewhere as a present, and you would have to be desperate to drink them (and have a free day following). I suppose I can pour them into the vinegar jar, but garbage in, garbage out.

I'm looking at various young LBV ports; generic fizz; german wines in fancy bottles (one labled "Top Gun");

Any suggestions?

Do you have similar problems?

Edited December 16, 2006 by jackal10 (log)

[hjshorter]

I'm looking at  various young LBV ports;

Use the port to poach pears and the generic fizz to make gelée.

I can't help you with the German stuff. Maybe it makes good plant fertiliser?

[mrbigjas]

there was a recipe that i cut out of the paper years ago, that we always used to make: a spicy beef stew with port in it. googling turns up this recipe, which i just checked and is indeed the one we made.

this doesn't call for good port--it's just sweetness to offset the jalapenos.

generic fizz is good for cooking certain things too. mussels, for instance, where you want the acid from the wine, but you're gonna load it up with garlic and chorizo so you're not gonna taste it much...

ok i think i'm sensing a theme here: use them for cooking things where the flavor of the wine doesn't matter as much as the properties of it.

[lperry]

Cheap reds take well to being mulled with spices and a bit of fruit juice. You can also make sangria with more fruit components than usual and it will be drinkable. I've made agar gelled salads with sweet wines with good success.

At least your friends are trying!

-Linda

[jackal10]

Thanks, but I can't eat that many poached pears or wine

gelee, and even if I could I prefer to start wih something I would drink (and I have plenty of cooking port or drinkable champagne)

Another example: bottles of last year's Beaujolais Noveau;

Edited December 16, 2006 by jackal10 (log)

[wkl]

last years nouveau bottles make interesting, casual, water pitchers for dinner or lunch. oh, but you've got to dump the wine out to do that, never mind.............

[markk]

You'd be surprised at how many people you probably encounter every day who would gladly accept and drink such a bottle. In my building we have a very large number of employees (door staff, maintenance people, porters) who are not such discerning drinkers as we gulletteers are, and who are very happy to receive all the unwanted wine and spirits that I pass on. Very happy.

Some years ago I received my standing order of 4 cases of an Alsace Pinot Blanc, but it was the vintage after the heat wave in Europe, and many lesser whites fared so terribly as to be unpleasant, at least to my taste. I just never thought to taste a bottle before I took that year's order - it's a wine I've been getting for ten years now.

I gave the cases to my head doorman and explained that it wasn't bad, just not what I enjoy, so he put them out in the staff room for people to try and take what they wanted. Everybody who took a first bottle to try came back and wiped it clean by the second day.

So you never know who will get great enjoyment from the bottles you don't want. Spread the holiday cheer!

[Kerry Beal]

Here in Ontario, Canada because the LCBO is the only game in town, you can take bottles of wine back and exchange them for other bottles of wine. No receipt, no cash of course.

[Malkavian]

I use sub-standard reds and ports to marinate pork shoulders before they hit the smoker, on the way to being turned into pulled pork for sandwiches. Adds a very interesting set of flavor notes IMHO.

My first thought was, as you mentioned, in making vinegar.

[Luckylies]

send them to me!!!!!!!!!

the sweet ones I'd marinate fruit in for fruitcake.

All the rest would become-

marinades,

vinegars,

splashes here and there,

hostess gifts to frenemies,

tips,

sangria,

bases for salad dressings..

as the liquid in the smoker (mixed with water obvs.)

shampoo..

[Domestic Goddess]

Lucky - shampoo????

[Luckylies]

just kidding

[Brad Ballinger]

Invariably, I get the unwelcomed unasked-for unwanted bottle of wine. Fortunately, my wife goes on a couple of "girls' weekends" every year where just about any wine is considered a "big deal."

LBV Port -- Not nearly all of these are that bad. Use for cooking, sauces, etc.

Fizz -- Great for mimosa, poinsettias, salad dressing, granita, punch.

Riesling -- My mother loves that kind of stuff; maybe you know someone like her.

[Michael M]

Fizz -- Great for mimosa, poinsettias, salad dressing, granita, punch.

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Poinsettias?! The Christmas plant? Or is that a name of some fizzy, wine-drenched dish?

[wkl]

"Riesling -- My mother loves that kind of stuff; maybe you know someone like her."

Brad? Say it ain't so..... Surely, you appreciate the wonders of German riesling. I can't imagine your cellar isn't stocked with halbtrockens, ausleses, etc.

[Luckylies]

Fizz -- Great for mimosa, poinsettias, salad dressing, granita, punch.

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Poinsettias?! The Christmas plant? Or is that a name of some fizzy, wine-drenched dish?

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champagne and cranberry juice.. I think.

[Brad Ballinger]

Fizz -- Great for mimosa, poinsettias, salad dressing, granita, punch.

←

Poinsettias?! The Christmas plant? Or is that a name of some fizzy, wine-drenched dish?

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As written above, bubbly and cranberry juice.

"Riesling -- My mother loves that kind of stuff; maybe you know someone like her."

Brad? Say it ain't so..... Surely, you appreciate the wonders of German riesling. I can't imagine your cellar isn't stocked with halbtrockens, ausleses, etc. 

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I love Riesling wines, and have cases of the stuff. Good stuff. None of it is labeled "Top Gun." Re-reading the thread, I see jackal10 merely wrote "German wine in fancy bottles." I assumed Riesling, which may not be correct. Could be muller-thurgau. And my post above should've probably substituted the word "German" for "Riesling."

[wkl]

i figured as much, brad. just busting your chops.

[maggiethecat]

  Fortunately, my wife goes on a couple of "girls' weekends" every year where just about any wine is considered a "big deal."

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Can I be your wife's new girlfriend? We women , of course, know nothing about wine and are just thrilled to get free plonk that we can drink in the jacuzzi while we discuss our husband's performance. And lack of. It's a blast.

Or just save it for cooking when the hoi polloi are coming for dinner.

[jackal10]

I have excellent German wines. This was not one of them: "Top Gun" was a red German wine in a bullet shaped bottle, presumably made about the time of the film. No longer made I believe. I could have kept it as a curiosity, I suppose. Other horrors are generic Liebfraumilch; if you can fin the original its wonderful, but the ocean of "Blue Nun" and equivalent are dire.

In my student days I could take these to a party. Now I would be ashamed to be associated with them.

[Syrah]

  Fortunately, my wife goes on a couple of "girls' weekends" every year where just about any wine is considered a "big deal."

←

Can I be your wife's new girlfriend? We women , of course, know nothing about wine and are just thrilled to get free plonk that we can drink in the jacuzzi while we discuss our husband's performance. And lack of. It's a blast.

Or just save it for cooking when the hoi polloi are coming for dinner.

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I assumed he meant after the first few bottles!