Twelve Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do With Wine


We love wine at Grizzly Liquor. From determining the best vintage and varietal that will pair with your evening meal to the very unique flavor profile descriptors (grassy or velvety, anyone?), the wine world can sometimes feel unapproachable, confusing, or haughty. 

In our effort to do what we can do dispel that inaccessibility, we wanted to take wine off its pedestal for a moment. While we all know the best thing to do with wine is to drink it, wine can also be put to work in our everyday lives. If you have an old bottle of wine laying around that doesn’t suit your fancy or was accidentally forgotten and might be past its prime, here are some ways you can still utilize its unique properties.

Composting

1) Composting

If you recently started a new composting pile, wine does a great job interacting with the bacteria that live in your compost. The bacteria are essential in making sure that your compost piles eventually turn into usable fertilizer.

If you happen to have a bottle that is fermenting harder than last week’s composted orange peels, toss the wine into the composting pile.

2.) Clean Your Fruit

The alcohol and resveratrol in red wine can kill off bacteria that cause foodborne illnesses like E.coli and salmonella. Just run a little wine over the fruit you want to eat after rinsing it off with water, dry it off and enjoy.

3) Soften Your Skin

The health-boosting antioxidants that we hear about all the time in red wine can be good as they can help soften, smooth, and tone your skin. So if you have enough red wine just lying around, you can add a bottle in the bath to treat yourself to some serious alone time.

4) Catch Fruit Flies

If you have an invasion of fruit flies after a party or a big meal, you can always use wine as an attractant to get them out of your house. Put some plastic wrap over the top of a bowl or glass of wine and poke a few tiny holes in it just big enough to trap the flies, then dispose of them however you wish.

5) Shine Your WindowsShine windows with white wine

If there’s a bottle of white wine that seems to have passed its prime, it carries very similar properties to that of vinegar. And for a long time, vinegar has been used to clean windows. If you just keep the white wine around, feel free to use it on the glass for that perfect streak-free shine.

6) Pull up Grease Stains

Soap can be used to pull up grease stains, but what can you do when the spot is outside or the soap has proven to just be ineffective?

As discussed with windows, white wine has some magical cleaning properties, including pulling up grease stains from a driveway or in the garage. Just put some white wine on the spill and even throw some baking soda into the mix to help it dissipate, then dab it with a towel.

7) Heal Bruises

Some people are more prone to collecting bruises with no clue how they got there. Flavonoids, an antioxidant wine is rich in, can help relieve bruises and inflamed tissue. Grab a rag or cotton balls soaked in wine, then dab the bruised area with it.

8) Picking up Red Wine Stains

Spill some red wine on the carpet? No worries, let’s bring in white wine to pick it up. The white will help soak up a lot of the dark color in the stain. Let the white wine sit for a while, and then dab it up with a paper towel or rag. One, preferably, that you don’t mind getting red wine on!

9) Steam Mussels

Mussels may seem daunting, but they’re pretty easy to steam. You’ll want to use wine instead of water (that’s right, take water and make it into wine) and add any herbs into the mix you like. You’ll want to cover the mussels in the steam until they open, or between 4-5 minutes. Then, reduce the wine sauce and add over the top of the open mussels for added flavor.

10) Soap

Alright, back to things a little more off the beaten path. Using a cold process, the natural sugars in wine make for a pretty luxurious lather, using pretty much any of the wines you like. It may be challenging to decide which of your favorites you’ll use for soap instead of drink, but hey, maybe the scent will attract some new wine friends.

wine jelly11) Poach an egg

If you like poached eggs, this might be a game-changer. Instead of using water the next time you poach an egg, mix two parts of red wine into the broth (beef, chicken, or veggie). Once the eggs have cooked, you may remove them and reduce the broth-wine concoction into a sauce to put on top of your egg.

12) Wine Jelly

It doesn’t matter the type of wine, but follow this easy recipe to understand the specific ingredients and how long to cook in order to turn your wine into jelly. You can introduce different juices instead of the lemon to see what different blends you can create.

This would be a great substitute for guac toast if you’re trying to inspire your inner millennial.