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All the Fun, Half the Commitment

by Mike Supple
published: 17 Dec 2008       | Comments

It's Tuesday night, you're home from another day at the grind and you just want to relax, pour a big glass of Shiraz and enjoy it with your mac and cheese. But unless "relax" means get schnockered and show up late for work with a headache, you may not want to pop the cork on a full bottle of wine.

Enter the unsung hero: the half bottle.

Overlooked far too often, half bottles should have a place in every cellar (or cabinet, counter, wherever). Although ounce for ounce they are usually a little more expensive than a full 750ml bottle, they can come in very handy, often making them worth the few extra pennies.

• When one bottle is just too much. Rather than opening a full bottle and either dumping it or having to deal with recorking it and risking that it gets bad over the next day or so, just grab a half bottle. A couple of glasses for you or you and a friend and you're all set.
  
  
• Try several different wines in one night. If you get bored drinking the same thing, sharing a few half bottles allows you to try many things without any waste.
  
  
• Half bottles age faster. Perhaps you put a couple of special full bottles away in a dark place so they can age and fully develop. Wines in half bottles tend to develop more quickly so you can pop a cork and get an insight into the future of how your full bottles are coming along.
  
  
• Preserving your other bottles. It's always a good idea to keep a couple of clean, empty screw cap half bottles around for those nights when you don't get through an entire regular bottle. Just pour it into the empty half bottle, screw the cap on tight and pop it in the fridge. Easy storage for the next day without having to deal with awkward vacuum pumps or wine preserving gas.
  
  
• Stretch your dollar. Sparkling wines are particularly expensive in restaurants. You may not have $60 for a full bottle, but that $20 burning a hole in your pocket is made for a half bottle, and starting your date with some bubbly shows a little class and is guaranteed to kick things off well.
  
  
• Easy storage. Half bottles take up less space in your apartment. You can cram a couple in your bookshelf, behind the olive oil, or anywhere else you see fit.

So grab a few half bottles and try them out next time you're in the mood. And if anyone looks at you funny and wonders where the rest of the bottle is? Just smile - you're in the know.