The Real Reason You Should Be Making Wine Ice Cubes

When the weekend rolls around, you may want to enjoy a glass, or two of your favorite wine. Which seems like a popular pastime for many Americans, with wine sales reaching $4.3 billion in 2018, according to consulting firm BW166, LLC per Forbes. However, even if you share some wine with a partner or friend, you may still have a little left at the bottom of the bottle. Instead of dumping the rest of that precious juice out, there's a way you can save it — while saving time and money.

Food & Wine recommends pouring the leftover wine evenly into an empty ice cube tray and covering with Saran wrap (genius!). Then, just put your wine cubes in the freezer to sit for a few hours. Now, the next time you're cooking a meal that requires wine, you won't need to head to a liquor store. Also, having wine cubes on hand means you won't have to open an entirely new bottle of wine, for just a small amount that you'll need for your recipe.

According to Bon Appétit, chef Nigella Lawson also uses the wine ice cube technique when cooking. "I know that wine snobs will say this is the most atrocious thing you can do, but I'm telling you, it works incredibly well indeed." And if it's good enough for Lawson, well, it's good enough for us! So, the next time you are cooking a stew or searing a steak and need to add some wine for flavor, you'll have your wine ice cubes ready to go. There's no need to thaw the cubes either because once they hit the heat they'll melt right away. 

Cosmopolitan also has another use for frosty wine cubes. If you haven't had time to chill your rosé or other favorite wine in the fridge, now you have an easy solution. Normal ice cubes will dilute your drink once it melts, however a wine ice cube will add even more wine to your glass. Bonus, you can also use them to create frosé. Seems like a win-win.