You open a bottle on a Tuesday, have a glass, maybe two, and the rest sits on the side. By Friday it tastes flat and slightly sour, a bit like it’s been left out in a pub overnight. That’s oxygen. The moment the cork comes out, air starts working on the wine, and pushing the cork back in doesn’t do much because the air is already in the bottle with it.

So the fix is to get the air out, or at least most of it.

What a vacuum pump actually does

A wine saver pump is a very simple bit of kit. You push a rubber stopper into the neck of the bottle, put the pump on top and work it up and down a few times. Each stroke pulls air out through a one-way valve in the stopper. Less air left in the bottle means the wine oxidises much more slowly.

It won’t freeze a wine in time. A delicate, older red still won’t be quite the same after a week. But for everyday bottles it makes the difference between “this is fine” and “I’m cooking with this now”.

Which pump?

Vacu Vin is the name most people know, and the Original pump is the one I’d go for. It comes with two rubber stoppers, which fit most standard wine bottles, and Vacu Vin say it keeps an opened bottle fresh for up to 10 days. What I like is the click. Once enough air has been pulled out, the pump clicks, so you know when to stop rather than pumping away and guessing. No batteries, nothing to charge.

A few things worth knowing before you buy:

  • It’s for still wine only. Don’t use it on Prosecco or Champagne. Pulling a vacuum on something fizzy just drags the bubbles out faster, which is the opposite of what you want.
  • Pump the bottle as soon as you’ve poured, not at the end of the night. The less time it’s open, the better it keeps.
  • Stand the bottle upright in the fridge, whites and reds both. Cold slows everything down, and you can take a red out half an hour before you want it.
  • Buy a few spare stoppers if you tend to have more than two bottles on the go. They’re sold separately.

To release the seal, you just tilt the top of the stopper with your thumb and you’ll hear the air rush back in. Rinse the stoppers in warm water now and then and they last for years.

Here’s the Vacu Vin Original pump with two stoppers on Amazon. Red, white or rosé, it’s the easiest way I know to stop pouring half a bottle down the sink every week.