Until the last drop: in the toast is a must. But there are times when the toast is followed – or we want to uncork a bottle just for us – and then the wine remains there … Recently we have already talked about what to do with the advanced wine – it was autumn, the flies raged, and wine is also useful in that sense there … Now, with the holidays in retreat, we make the point – indeed, the points! – on how to use with creativity and a pinch of popular wisdom what remains on the bottom of the bottles.

First, imagination in the kitchen. The first idea is of course to use the leftovers of wine to unleash your imagination in the kitchen – we already know what is the right wine for every dish. You can keep the wine left a few days, well capped, in the refrigerator, and then browse the Sale & Pepe recipe book to find the right recipe. For the winter season, and with a little 'time available, the ideas could come from the Piedmontese culinary tradition, which in many recipes offers the use of red wine in cooking: a nice braised red wine (for 4 people it is enough 3 glasses), for example, or agnolotti with the plin, where the wine is used in the filling. If the leftovers are white, you could try to cook the South Tyrolean wine soup, an excellent rich dish for the winter days (just a glass) or, if the rest is a dessert wine, here is the recipe for wine tiramisu with cherries (even here, an advanced glass is enough).

Secondly, a sauce for every use. If the rush is part of the routine in the kitchen, there is a way to save the alcohol leftovers and enrich a simple dish cooked in a few minutes: prepare a quick wine sauce, with which to enrich a slice of meat just stir-fried. Just put in a saucepan the glass of wine left with two tablespoons of sugar and let it coagulate. Then pour on the hot plate and serve quickly. The result will be simple and tasty.

Third, a gift for the skin. THE polyphenols contained in wine, in vines, in grapes for years they are used in cosmetics because of their portentous antioxidant effects. In fact, they help to keep the young skin in a natural way, giving shine and hydration. Here then the idea: use the advanced wine instead of tonic, soaking it in a cotton swab and tapping your face, even better if the wine is left in the fridge to take advantage of the decongestant properties of the cold, even in the most delicate areas such as dark circles.

Fourth, help at home. Wine stains and often make the stains disappear on a tablecloth or a dress is an impossible task. But wine is also a excellent stain removerFor example, try to pour an equal amount of white wine onto the red wine stain, maybe you'll notice how the wine can help to defeat … more wine. White is an excellent degreaser, to be used instead of chemicals or vinegar to remove the stubborn stains of fat on the floors (think of the terrace, the veranda, the garage where the dirt coming from the outside accumulates).

Fifth, fuel for the car. Although for the moment it is not possible to find it on the market, here's what the future holds: technology is ready to provide fuel for cars in organic version created with grape scraps. One ton of pomace can produce up to 400 liters of bioethanol with which to fuel its own resources (this was demonstrated by scientific research at the University of Adelaide last year). Someone already uses it, for example the Prince Charles, a true gourmand attentive to the environment "nourishes" its Aston Martin for some time with the white of his house mixed with the typically British cheese from which it derives bioethanol. The result? A "saving" in production of 85 percent of carbon dioxide.

Eva Perasso
December 15th 2016
updated January 2018
from Carola Traverso Saibante
Photo credits Flickr / Daniele Civello

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