The Best Wine Stoppers Will Extend the Life of Your Favorite Bottles

The result: five products that have proven to be the best wine stoppers on the market. Check out what made the cut below, as well as some general wine stopper tips and tricks from Patterson himself.

Material: Plastic | Type of Seal: Stopper | Dishwasher Safe: Yes

Why we chose it: Simple, affordable, and versatile, this no-frills stopper ticks all the boxes. 

Haley hits a home run with her five-in-one corker that takes every aspect of the wine-enjoying experience into consideration. Not only does this small-but-mighty stopper prevent oxygen from getting inside and turning your wine sour; it also filters as you pour to ensure that lingering sediment and tartrates won’t pass through to your glass. The corker is also great for liquors, cooking oils, coffee syrups, and vinegars, so don’t limit yourself to purchasing just one. It’s likely you’ll want an army of them to cover your favorite bottles in liquid-preservation bliss.

Material: Silicone and stainless steel | Type of Seal: Stopper | Dishwasher Safe: Yes

Why we chose it: Rabbit Bottle Stoppers are proof that high quality doesn’t have to mean a high price point. 

Providing an air-tight seal with dishwasher-safe rubber and stainless steel, the Rabbit Bottle Stopper far exceeds any expectation you may have about a $2 product. These triangle-shaped corks get the job done in preserving your wine for days at a time and are intelligently color-coded to indicate differences in wine type and/or expiration date. At less than $4 for a set of two, there really is no excuse to not give them a try.

Material: Plastic | Type of Seal: Vacuum | Dishwasher Safe: Yes

Why we chose it: Oxygen is essential for humans, but not for wine. This vacuum pump will rid your open bottle of that pesky gas in no time. 

Partaking in any type of manual labor isn’t the most ideal scenario while relaxing and sipping, but if you need to cork a bottle for future use, consider the Original Vacu Vin Wine Saver. The concoction will eliminate all oxygen in just a few pumps to preserve the quality of your vino for up to a week. Don’t believe us? Ask a friend, who probably already owns one: After selling more than 35 million units, it’s one of the most popular models on the market and shows no sign of slowing down.

Material: Stainless steel and silicone | Type of Seal: Stopper | Dishwasher Safe: Yes

Why we chose it: Maintaining bubbles requires a stopper with sturdier construction, and this gets the job done. 

A flat sparkling wine is essentially a crime. To preserve effervescence and prevent the atrocity of pouring bottles down the sink, invest in BGMAZ’s Sparkling Wine Bottle Plug. Constructed specifically for Champagne and other sparkling varieties, the sleek and shiny stopper attaches itself to the mouth of the bottle to lock its silicone rubber into place. Exercise caution when removing, though, as contents will be under extreme pressure. But should your device break, it is backed by an impressive lifetime warranty. 

Material: Stainless steel and silicone | Type of Seal: Stopper | Dishwasher Safe: Yes

Why we chose it: No design detail was left unnoticed with OXO’s Steel Expanding Wine Stopper. 

If you’re looking for a stopper to imitate the shape and purpose of a cork but with some extra bells and whistles, look no further than OXO’s Steel Expanding Wine Stopper. Expertly designed to expand when inserted, this pair of silicone and stainless steel stoppers are guaranteed to keep your bottles fresh until reopened. They’re also just as easy to remove with a seal that contracts when lifted. And, perhaps most exciting of all, they’re built with a fridge-friendly flat top to keep things more compact for top-shelf storage.

With the advice of Patterson and some of our favorite sommeliers, we gathered nearly a dozen of the highest-rated, most critically-acclaimed options on the market and carried out the ultimate wine stopping showdown. Ensuring that we had proper representation in a handful of important categories (e.g., price, material, type of wine, etc.), these are the wine stoppers that came out on top.

Wine stoppers are generally made of a silicone or plastic plug that is inserted into a bottlehead before naturally expanding to fill its surrounding space. Many wine stoppers also contain metal clips that can grip around the opening for a tighter, more secure seal. Vacuum pumps are typically larger, hand-held devices used to extract the air that can oxidize your vino. 

The goal is to prolong the life of your opened wine, which any standard wine stopper will accomplish. That said, sparkling wines and Champagne will require the preservation of bubbles. It’s important to research which stoppers can stand up to the carbon dioxide these bottles emit or they’ll go flying and can cause damage or even injury. 

Most wine stoppers are made with materials that are dishwasher-safe. They’re also easy to hand-wash with dish soap and warm water.

“Preserving the wine for consumption at a later date or transporting any wine you may not have finished,” says winemaker John Patterson of Patterson Cellars. 

Reds: two to three days 

Whites: three to four days

Sparkling: one to two days

Dessert whites and reds: five to seven days

Note: According to Patterson, sparkling stoppers can keep wine up to two days, depending on the initial carbon dioxide content and how much was left in the bottle prior to stopping. The more wine left in the bottle, the less carbon dioxide. Never vacuum seal a bottle of sparkling wine, as it will draw out the carbon dioxide, which is what creates those lovely bubbles.

“Its purpose is to reduce the air or atmospheric pressure in the bottle by creating a vacuum,” Patterson says. “Pumping helps to slow down the oxidation process in a partially filled bottle.” 

According to Patterson, Champagne stoppers usually have a hinge that attaches to the drip ring or neck of the bottle that gives the stopper the ability to handle the internal pressure being created by carbon dioxide. Wine stoppers for still wine can draw a vacuum or simply rest on top of the bottle, but typically can’t stand up to internal bottle pressure.  

“Refrigerated wines tend to hold better,” Patterson says “By lowering the wine temp, the chemical reaction of oxidation is slowed. If you don't have a stopper, you can transfer the wine to a smaller container to reduce headspace and the wine's exposure to oxygen. You can also wrap the bottle with plastic wrap or just put the cork back in.”

Now that you’ve got five of the best wine stoppers to choose from, you can dust off and uncork that expensive bottle without rushing to finish it. These models are guaranteed to preserve the quality of your vino for a few days so you can savor the taste of your white, red, or sparkling to the very last drop.