When you pour a glass of wine, you will inevitably have a little of the bottle’s contents drip down the neck. If you are placing the bottle on a table cloth, it will most likely stain it. This is especially true if you are enjoying a darker wine. Which is the correct and the proper thing to do.
To avoid embarrassing staining, you could buy a wine bottle ring drip stopper. Cheap ones are less than $10 and the price goes up from there if you want to get all fancy-pants about it. I guarantee, regardless of what price you pay, you will end up throwing it away with the bottle. Eventually.
There is a better solution that won’t cost you a cent and save you from rummaging through your trash the next morning when the fuzziness of the previous evening’s festivities dissipates with your morning coffee or tea.
When serving wine with friends or with any company you don’t need to go out of your way to impress, take a single sheet of paper towel or a fancy napkin, roll it up, and then tie it around the neck of the bottle with a simple overhand knot, securing it in place.
The end result will look something like an ascot that your bottle is now garishly presenting. But on a more practical note, any drips will now be caught by said stylish ascot.
If you used a paper towel, you can recycle it with the bottle when it is done. If you use a cloth napkin, just undo it before you recycle the bottle. If you fail to do so, oh well. One less napkin for you.
Regardless of your approach, you will never again embarrass yourself or stain your linens.
Of course, if you are drinking white wine, none of this is necessary, but I suggest you are doing it wrong.
White wine is trash.