Microwaving wine

You have to be kidding.

Microwave your wine?

Go with me on this.

Here’s the scenario: you drank a half bottle of red last night. Sealed it with the original cork and put it in the fridge.   What’s the fastest, easiest way to see if it’s salvageable the next day?

Pour a glass and microwave it for about 10 seconds.

There’s actually science behind this. “The microwaves are heating the water which is the main constituent of wine,” says Christian Butzke, an enologist at the University of California at Davis. “If you do that for a very brief period, 10 seconds or less, no other chemical reactions are going to take place and nothing will be destroyed.”

Butzke does admit that philosophically, microwaving just doesn’t sound right. “It is awkward.”

Awkward or not, it can work.

I’ve done it many times. I’d say the success rate is about 50-50.

My conclusion: it’s worth a try.

Microwaving wine
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