This uniquely-named product is essentially a home version of the bag found inside most box wines. It’s supposed to keep your wine fresh for a lot longer. So does it?

I love wine, but not when it sits open for too long and goes off. Sometimes it takes a day, other times flavours can hang on for almost a week. But it’s an issue for anyone who enjoys wine solo (by circumstance or by choice). A whole industry has sprung up dedicated to keeping our wine fresh. There are gas preserves, vacuum seals, and now the PlatyPreserve.

Available at Kenaston Wine Market, MEC and private stores too, a single PlatyPreserve runs you about $10. You can also buy four-packs (you’ll see why later).

Simply fill the bladder with your favourite wine, squeeze out the air and presto! Immortal wine. Well, not quite.

I tried preserving two very different wines. The first one was the ‘Hot to Trot’ red blend from Washington State. It’s a big, bold fruit-bomb and past experience has taught me it loses the fruit in no more than a day.

The second was Stork’s Tower Tempranillo-Shiraz. I hadn’t tried this particular wine before, but I find that Spanish wines can often evolve with exposure to the air sometimes to great effect, other times not so much.

Both of these wines are delicous and available at the MLCC for around $15.

The ‘Hot to Trot’ kept that beautiful Washington fruit for a full three days with almost no noticeable change.

The Stork’s Tower also kept its original flavours for the full three days, and although it didn’t last as well, it was still pretty tasty by the end.

I can’t really draw a lot of conclusions from a sample of two wines, but I will note that the big fruit-bomb American did better than the earthy and reserved Spanish. And I wouldn’t recommend using the PlatyPreserve for older wines, or for something really strong like a port or sherry. But for your Tuesday night pizza red, exactly when you need something like this, it’s perfect!

If there’s any fault with the PlatyPreserve, it’s that it’s hard to effectively clean. The manufacturer says you’re supposed to just rinse it with warm water and leave it standing up to dry. But I found that it does pick up a strong red wine smell with use and the water didn’t get rid of this. It didn’t seem to affect the taste of subsequent reds I’ve stored in it, but the smell is noticeable.

Some folks are recommending Efferdent, but a simpler solution might be to buy a four-pack and keep a couple for whites and reds, or put a pair in a fellow wine-lover’s stocking at Christmas.