How long does wine last after opening?

Once you pull the cork, oxygen starts to change the wine. For the first hour or so that's often a good thing. After a day or two it begins to flatten the fruit, and after about a week most wines taste tired and slightly sour.

How fast that happens depends on the style.

How long does each type of wine last once opened?#

All times assume the bottle is resealed and kept in the fridge.

These are rough guides. A young, tannic red often tastes better on day two. A delicate 20-year-old Burgundy can fall apart within hours.

Why does wine go off after opening?#

Two things happen. First, oxygen reacts with the wine, which dulls the fruit and eventually turns it brown and flat. That's oxidation. Second, bacteria that are already in the air turn alcohol into acetic acid, which is vinegar. Both happen faster when it's warm.

Fortified wines last longer because their higher alcohol slows both processes, and many of them, like tawny port and Madeira, were made with plenty of oxygen to begin with. Sweet wines last well because sugar acts as a preservative.

How can you make an open bottle last longer?#

• Put the cork back in straight away. Don't leave the bottle open on the table all evening.
• Refrigerate it, red or white. Cold slows down oxidation and the bacteria. Take reds out 30 minutes before serving.
• Pour leftovers into a smaller bottle. Less air in the bottle means less oxidation. A clean half bottle with a screw cap works well.
• Use argon gas. Wine preservation sprays put a layer of inert gas over the wine. They work better than vacuum pumps, which only remove some of the air.
• Use a pour-through-the-cork device like a Coravin. These let you pour a glass through a needle without removing the cork. The rest of the bottle can keep for weeks or longer.
• Use a proper sparkling stopper. A hinged clamp stopper keeps the pressure in. The silver spoon in the neck is a myth.

In practice, I rarely need much of this. A bottle at my place is usually finished within a day or two, so a simple vacuum pump to get it to the next day is enough. I've looked at a Coravin, the needle device that pours through the cork and tops up with argon gas, but I haven't felt the need yet.

Is it safe to drink wine that has been open too long?#

Wine that has oxidised or started to turn to vinegar isn't dangerous, it just doesn't taste good. The exception is if you see mould, which is rare and almost always in a bottle left open somewhere warm. If in doubt, smell it. Vinegar, nail polish, or a strong sherry smell in a wine that isn't sherry all mean it's past its best.

Leftover wine that doesn't taste great anymore is still fine for cooking for a few more days. Reds go into stews and sauces, whites into risotto and pan sauces.

The freezer is your friend here. If I open a really old bottle and don't like it, I freeze it and use it later in soups and sauces. It saves the wine from the sink, and frozen wine works just as well in cooking.

How can you avoid half-finished bottles?#

Plan around what you'll actually drink. If you often open a bottle for one glass, half bottles are worth buying for your everyday wines, and a preservation device pays for itself quickly if you open good bottles midweek.

It also helps to know which bottles in your collection need drinking first. Smart Wine Cellar's wine list shows every bottle's drinking window, so the ones that won't wait are easy to spot, and you can mark a bottle as consumed when you finish it.