I don’t drink a whole bottle, but I cook like I do. Every recipe wanted a splash of wine, so I’d buy a cheap bottle, use a quarter cup, and watch the rest go bad on the counter over the next week. That’s money down the drain, one slow drip at a time.

Now the day I open a bottle, whatever’s left goes straight into an ice cube tray.

Why it works

Wine turns to vinegar when air hits it, and there’s no way around that. Freezing just stops the clock. One standard ice cube holds about two tablespoons of wine, which is a handy little unit when a recipe asks for a splash or a half cup.

The little routines that make it stick

• Pour it the same night. Tomorrow you’ll forget, and half-gone wine on the counter is exactly how you got here.
• Label the bag if you keep red and white. Frozen red and white cubes look almost identical and they do not taste interchangeable.
• Skip the fancy decanting. Just pour and freeze. You’re cooking with it, not judging it.

I keep a zip bag of cubes in the freezer now. When a pan sauce needs deglazing, I toss in a cube or two and it melts right into the pan. No more half-empty bottles glaring at me from the counter.