Awesome Wine Hacks You Should Know

Do you need to chill wine fast, get rid of a wine stain, or open a wine bottle without a corkscrew? Your wine predicament may seem hopeless but these wine hacks are here to save your evening! Whether a cork is stuck inside the bottle, or you have no corkscrew at all, this list of amazing wine tips and tricks is here to help!

Need to open a bottle of wine without a corkscrew? No problem! If you find yourself with an unopened bottle of wine, but no corkscrew, just grab any of these common items from around the house (a set of keys, or a woodscrew and a fork) follow the steps below, and you'll have that bottle uncorked in no time!

1. Remove the "capsule" (foil wrapper) from the top of the bottle to reveal the cork.

2. Select a sturdy key that's not likely to bend. 

3. Poke the key into the cork at an angle. Imagine looking at a clock face, the key should be angled toward 2 or 10 on the clock. (be gentle with the cork so it doesn't break into pieces)

4. You'll need to push the key in as deep as you can. You can put a piece of cloth over the key if pushing it in hurts your palm.

5. Hold the key steady, and begin rotating the bottle with your free hand.

6. Continue rotating and gently pull upward on the key.

7. After a few twists, enough of the cork will be out, allowing you to grip the cork with your hand and pull it the rest of the way.

1. Find a long pointed screw (and a fork that you wouldn't be upset about if it got ruined)

2. Use a screwdriver to drive the screw into the center of the cork. 

3. Leave about a quarter of an inch gap between the head of the screw and the cork.

4. Slide a sturdy fork around the head of the screw. (you can also use the claw end of a hammer, or pliers if you have them handy)

5. Pull the fork up, while gently pulling the wine bottle away from the fork with your other hand.

6. Rock the fork back and forth until the cork comes out.

Corks can sometimes break in half, and chunks of it will fall down into the wine bottle. With this simple wine hack, you can get to your wine, without risking swallowing bits of cork! All you need is a wine glass, and a regular coffee filter.

1. Take your coffee filter and place it inside your wine glass. (If you have a rubber band handy, you can use it to hold the filter in place)

2. Take the bottle with the cork stuck inside and slowly pour it onto the coffee filter. If you pour too fast, there's a chance the wine will splash when it hits the filter.

3. The wine will pass through the filter, leaving the chunks of cork on top.

4. Remove the filter and dump it into the trash along with the cork pieces.

Forgot to chill your wine and the dinner party is about to start? Don't freak out, you can use the following method to chill your vino in minutes! All you need is a warm bottle of wine, a roll of paper towels, some tap water, and a freezer.

1. Wrap a few layers of paper towel around the wine bottle.

2. Run the bottle under the faucet, soaking the paper towels.

3. Place the wine bottle with its damp paper towel wrap into the freezer.

4. Set a timer for 10 minutes (don't leave the wine in for too long or it'll freeze!)

5. Remove the wine from the freezer, and peel off the paper towel covering.

6. If the frozen paper towels are stuck to the bottle, run them under some warm water and peel them off.

Ice cubes are great for keeping a glass of wine cool, but when the cubes melt, you're left with a glass of watered-down wine. If you plan ahead, you can celebrate with ice cubes that melt and leave you with MORE WINE.

1. Pour your wine into an ice cube tray

2. Let it freeze for at least 48 hours

3. When you're enjoying a glass of wine on a hot afternoon, pop in your frigid wine ice cubes and enjoy!

Similarly, you can freeze grapes and drop them in to chill your wine. And afterward, you can enjoy snacking on some delicious frozen grapes!

Use frozen wine or chilled grapes to make sure your wine is never watered down. Pour wine into an ice tray and freeze it for at least 48 hours, then pop the cool cubes into a glass of the same wine. Another cool trick? Freeze your favorite type of grapes and add them to your wine to cool it off. The best part of this trick is you get to eat the cold grapes when you finish your glass.

Red wine is delicious, but when it spills, it can be a nightmare to clean up. When tragedy strikes, and your glass of red lands splashes onto clothes, or spills onto the carpet, use these tips to tackle the mess before it settles in and becomes a permanent stain.

Here are the key things to know when tackling spilled wine:

The sooner you go about cleaning up a wine stain, the better. The longer wine has a chance to sit, the harder it will be to remove.

You need to "pull" the wine out of the fabric, not spread it around. 

Apply a towel or paper towel asap and blot the wine out onto the towel. Resist the urge to scrub, and let the towels soak up as much wine as possible. 

Heating the wine will just make it dry faster, and what you need is to work with the wine while it's still damp. 

Table salt, baking soda, baby powder, or even kitty litter will absorb the wine. Shake out a layer of whatever dry material you have on hand, add a paper towel on top, and apply gentle pressure. Let it sit for a few minutes to continue absorbing. Collect the now-damp powder with a towel, throw it out, shake out more powder, and repeat.

The entire family at Olsen Run hopes you found these wine hacks useful!