zzysh®: a revolutionary way to preserve wine

For those of us who like wine, the excitement of opening up a new bottle you've been saving for the perfect evening is always a joy.

But it can also be a time of mixed emotions. You see, I'm the type of person who has a glass with dinner only every so often, so I know that a good half of that nice bottle of red is probably going to go to waste - left to go stale and lose its fruity tones.

And that's really the main gripe I have with wine: the rate the natural flavours start to dissipate means you really need to use the whole bottle within just a few days. It doesn't matter if it's red, white or rosé, they all start lose a lot of their natural flavours within a very short amount time. And if you're hoping to keep all the fizz of sparkling wine past an evening? Forget it!

Or at least that was true until Swiss-based company zzysh^® let me try out their rather clever way of preserving all the natural flavours of your wine for longer. The science behind it is rather clever, but it's how easy it is to use that really piqued my interest: you just close the bottle, zzysh^® it for 3-5 seconds ('zzysh' is the sound you'll hear when you do), and then store it like normal, ready to enjoy whenever you want.

There are two different zzysh^® products to choose from, one for wine called zzysh^® Wine and one for sparkling wine called zzysh^® Champagne.

The wine-expert tested technology is ingenious, modifying the atmosphere inside the wine bottle to argon (or a mixture of argon and carbon dioxide, if you’re preserving something with bubbles). With no oxygen in the bottle it means no oxidation, which in turn means no loss of flavour, or in the case of sparkling wine no loss of flavour or bubbles.

Most importantly, it really works!

During my tests, I opened a bottle of red to have with dinner, zzysh'ed it and set it back down. A week later, I opened the bottle, poured myself a glass and there was no difference in the taste. None.

I zzysh'ed it once again and a few days later finished the bottle off with a friend (in the name of science, of course), and again no descernible loss of flavour - not just for a few extra days, but weeks!

For sparkling wine, prosecco and champagne, the zzysh^® can work its magic and keep the bubbles and taste perfect for weeks. Pretty amazing when it would normally be flat as a pancake by then, and it really is a doddle to preserve - just place the stopper in the neck, making sure the zzysh^® logo on the bracket is facing upwards, and zzysh^®!

So, a no loss of flavour, colour or quality - not bad, zzysh^®! I think a real winning point about zzysh^® is that it fits into your life just as well if you're a big wine lover as it does if you only indulge occasionally.

Want a glass with dinner like I do, but without having to chuck half the bottle after a day or two? Perfect! Maybe you're more of a white wine person and your partner prefers red, but neither of you want to compromise? Perfect!

The saying goes you should only cook with wine you'd happily drink, and with zzysh^® you can add a glass to a ragout and know the rest isn't wasted. Equally, if you're the type of person who likes to push the boat out and host a dinner party once in a while with the right wine at every course, you can do so without having to worry about waste.

With new found wine freedom in mind, here are some ideas to inspire you to try something you haven't before. It's my simple guide on how to pair your wines easily with different courses and flavours:

• A dry white like pinot grigio will go great with fresh or cooked veggies as well as fish.
• Sweeter whites generally don't work well with meat or fish and are best paired with soft cheeses, cured meats or desserts.
• Rich whites like Chardonnay are great for roasted veggies, fish or white meat.
• Sparkling wine like champagne is perfect for cheese or fish courses. Personally I find it pairs best when drank on its own after a long day.
• Lighter reds like pinot noir do well with fish or white meat.
• Medium reds are all about the meat - white, red, cured can all come alive when paired with something like a Merlot.
• Big reds are best left for red meats and hard cheeses, anything else will be overpowered.
• Dessert wines are lovely with desserts, naturally, but things like port and sherry also help soft cheeses and cured meats to come alive.

At £69 for a starter kit, I think zzysh^® have hit on a winning design. This is an affordable product that's easy-to-use and small enough to tidy out the way easily. The cost of zzysh'ing a bottle after you have the kit works out at just under 50p a bottle for wine and £1 for champagne, which I think is a steal when you consider the alternative of pouring money (quite literally) down the drain needlessly.

Get 20% off your next zzysh^® purchase

zzysh^® have also kindly provided me with a code to get 20% off* the purchase of a zzysh^® Wine or zzysh^® Champagne Starter Set, just use the code 'getyourzzysh' with your order. It would make a fantastic Christmas present, don't you think?

This is a commissioned post for zzysh^®. * Code valid on the zzysh^® webshop only.