A nice glass of Cabernet with a steak dinner or a lovely Pinot Grigio with some halibut; wine is the perfect accompaniment to delicious foods. It’s also a wonderful libation to sip on after a long day of work or to celebrate a momentous occasion.
Nothing’s worse than opening up a bottle of wine to find out that it’s corked — it’s gone bad and smells like wet dog. Or you opened a bottle but just can’t finish it. Don’t throw it out, try these nifty uses instead.
Spoiled and leftover wine can be used for so many things, and there are even a few reasons to have an extra glass or two.
1. Soften your skin
Wine contains antioxidants that have many benefits when consumed internally. However, when applied topically, it can also provide great benefits to your skin. Use red wine as a toner to help smooth, soften, and refine your skin. Even the celebrities swear by it; actress Teri Hatcher says she pours a glass of red wine into her bath water.
2. Clean your fruits and veggies
As with baking soda, you can clean your fruits and veggies with wine. The alcohol in the wine will kill bacteria like salmonella and E. Coli; it will also dissolve impurities on the skin of the fruit or vegetable.
3. DIY glass cleaner
When white wine goes bad, it starts to become vinegar which is perfect for cleaning glass surfaces. Add a few tablespoons of spoiled white wine into a spray bottle with water. Use it to clean mirrors, windows, and other glass. Wipe clean with a newspaper for extra shine.
4. Remove grease stains from your garage or driveway
Leftover and spoiled white wine is a great grease remover. The alcohol and the acid in the wine will dissolve the grease within a few minutes.
5. Use white wine to remove red wine stains
When a glass of red wine is spilled, it almost happens in slow motion. You know what’s coming next, a giant red wine stain. Don’t panic. Just grab the nearest glass of white wine and pour it onto the stain. Gently blot with a towel to remove the stain.
6. Marinate a steak
Marinating your steak in red wine is a great way to not only boost flavor but to add some extra health benefits as well. According to ecosalon, “frying and grilling meat at high temperatures turns sugars and amino acids of muscle tissue into carcinogenic compounds but marinating steak in red wine for at least six hours before cooking can reduce two types of carcinogens by up to 90 percent.”
7. Relieve your heartburn
For some people, drinking red wine can give them heartburn, but in other cases, it can actually do the opposite. Certain types of light white wine contain sodium bicarbonate, otherwise known as baking soda, which is known to treat heartburn.
8. Boost your brain
Studies have shown that the polyphenols in red wine increase blood flow and oxygen to your brain. This is especially beneficial when we are older, as blood flow to the brain begins to decrease as we age. So feel free to indulge in a glass of Merlot every now and then.
9. Slow the aging process
Reservatrol in wine may help us hold onto our youthful glow. “As an anti-aging device, it’s as good as it gets,” says Dr. Richard A. Baxter. But, of course, always in moderation. “A glass a day and your skin will glow.”
10. Power your car
Okay, this one might not be feasible for many, but it’s possible! Prince Charles has an Aston Martin that runs on biofuel made from surplus wine. Pretty amazing, right? Convert your car to run on biofuel and purchase pre-made wine bio-ethanol to make it run.
11. Dye your fabric
Red wine loves to cling to fabric. If you’ve ever spilled some on yourself, you know this to be true. Use red wine to dye different fabrics. The colors will range from a light pink to dark red, possibly even gray. Bring wine to a boil, add your fabric, and stir. Use a wooden spoon to stir for 10 minutes before allowing to cool, then rinse.
12. Leftover wine ice cubes
Pour leftover wine into an ice tray and freeze. Use the cubes as added flavor when cooking stews, soups, or sauces.
13. Disinfect your kitchen
You obviously wouldn’t want to use red wine to clean your countertops, as we know how badly it stains. White wine, however, is a great kitchen cleaner and disinfectant. Wine’s fruit cleaning abilities are the same that helps disinfect your kitchen. Be sure to use a dry white wine like Sauvignon Blanc, so there’s no sticky residue. Never use wine to clean granite, the acids will eat at the surface.
14. Trap pesky fruit flies
Fruit flies absolutely love red wine. Pour a couple of inches of red wine into a glass and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Poke a few holes in the plastic wrap and your fruit fly problem will be a thing of the past. They crawl in through the holes and are unable to escape.
15. Help heal bruises
Wine contains flavonoids which are antioxidants that help soothe inflamed tissue. An old home remedy is to soak a piece of bread in wine and place it on the bruise to help it heal faster.
16. Keep your heart healthy
Antioxidants and reservatrol in wine are very healthy and beneficial to your heart. Drinking wine in moderation can help lower your cholesterol and protects against artery damage. Cheers to that!
17. Make wine jelly
Pick your wine, mix with some sugar and some pectin, and voila! You have yourself a delicious wine or champagne jelly. For the full tutorial, head to Instructables. These delicious jellies are a perfect addition to your Sunday brunch.
18. Prepare a red wine reduction
If you’re left with a bottle of red wine that didn’t really suit your taste buds, turn it into a delicious sauce instead. A red wine reduction goes wonderfully with steak and is surprisingly easy to make. A Cooking Light recipe uses tomato sauce, shallots, broth, and wine for a healthy but delicious reduction.
19. Help your muscles…while in space
Most of us will never ever be able to put this one to use, but a study has shown that drinking red wine can help temper the adverse effects of being in a zero-gravity environment. Astronauts are in danger of losing muscle and bone density, but reservatrol can prevent that.
20. Turn it into vinegar
As wine goes bad, it automatically starts to turn into vinegar. So, if you have an open bottle that you can’t finish, you can let nature do its thing, and it will do all of the work itself. According to ecosalon, “you can also make vinegar from wine in larger quantities by pouring a quart of wine and a cup of vinegar into a sterilized wide-mouthed glass jug, capping it off but opening it for 30 minutes per day. It’s ready when the thick, jelly-like ‘mother’ sinks to the bottom. Just keep adding more wine as you use it.”
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