How long can you keep an open bottle of wine and it still be good?!
How long can you keep an open bottle of wine and it still be good?
Answers:
There are lots of variables regarding the wine type, method of production, age of bottle and on and on. There are all those considerations and exceptions but for 95% of the wine that most people drink, the answer is pretty simple.
Three (3) days. Around here, we keep wines up to 3 days after the bottle has been opened. Once a bottle of wine is opened, the oxygen in the air starts a process that initially softens the flavors and opens up the aromas of the wine. As this process (oxidation) continues over many hours and days, the wine is ultimately made undrinkable. The trick is to use the wine before it becomes unpalatable or to pour it out before bad wine is served to guests.
You can (and usually should) refrigerate recorked bottes. You can buy stoppers and gadgets to create a slight vaccuum in the bottle. You can get systems that put a layer of inert gas in the bottle. All these items and efforts are aimed at slowing the oxidation that will eventually destroy the wine.
What makes the whole thing tricky is that the wine will not go immediately from good to bad. The wine will, at a point, begin to progressively develop tastes that are unpleasant. Just like milk that is going bad, each person has a different point at which they identify the beverage as having gone bad.
If you want to play it safe (and who doesn't with either milk or wine), then just use the 3 day rule. Recork and refrigerate the bottle for up to three days. With red wines, pull the bottle from the refrigerator at least 1/2 hour before you want to use it so it will warm to a desirable serving temperature in the mid 60's F. With white wines or roses, just pull and pour when you need them.....
Keeping opened wines beyond 3 days is like playing golf in a lightning storm. You may get through but you are tempting the fates. If you keep a table wine for more than 3 days, you will be serving a wine that has lost most of the characteristics that are prized. The aroma will start to change and much of the fresh fruit smells and tastes will subside. At worst, you'll be serving a wine that has oxidized too much and is partly or entirely bad....
Dessert wines like Sauternes, most everyday Ports and most Sherries can last much longer but those are special cases. Just play it safe with the 3 day rule. It is a good practice to write the date the bottle was opened on the label if there is a chance of confusion.........
Do hope this helps answer the question for you :)
About a week or so
I keep it in the refrig. for about a month. Never had any problem with it
Ha Ha If I have a bottle of wine I have never had leftovers! That is a good question! I would think about 1 week?
Here is a link to a site that actually did an experiment to answer that question. I think you would find it interesting.
http://www.wineintro.com/basics/opened/i...
Three to five days. You can put it in the fridge and buy yourself a couple of weeks. The best thing out there is the pump with the rubber corks. Place the rubber cork in, pump out the air and your bottle can stay out for about a month. It's great. Also, when using the regular cork if it's a red, store it sideways. The wine will touch the cork and stop the extra air from leaking in.
Salud!
A week and a month are way off. Iv'e worked at a winery so I know this.
You can keep it for 2-3 days... Get a wine preserver to spray in the bottle before you cork it or get a vacuum wine pump to get the air out...
There is no simple answer. It is just impossible to say "1 day" or "1 week".
It depends on what wine it is.
Wine starts to change and deteriorate the moment it is exposed to air.
Wines which have higher levels of alcohol or sugar - because they are preservatives - keep longer. A bottle of Port or Sherry (both are fortified) or a sweet dessert wine lasts a lot longer than an ordinary table wine.
A red wine with high levels of tannin might actually improve left open for a day as the air accelerates the aging process and helps to soften the tannins.
If you want to keep an ordinary table wine, put the cork back in as soon as possible (to reduce oxygen exposure) and put the bottle in the fridge door (keeping it cool helps prolong it).
I personally wouldn't want to drink wines that had been opened for much more than a day. By the way, this is why so many wines by the glass in bars are so unappealing -- they've been open too long.
If you intend regularly opening wines to finish later, see if you can find some smaller bottles -- those quarter sized screwcap bottles are ideal -- and pour the unused wine into the smaller bottle and close it, thus there is less oxygen in the bottle.
Alternatively, why not freeze the remainder? Stick the cork back in teh neck and put the bottle in the freezer. When thedays comes you are ready to drink it, thaw the bottle in the fridge. The wine will taste about the same as if you'd kept it opened for a day, and white wines may have some harmless white deposits at the bottom.
But why not look for wine in half or quarter bottles?
There are some devices that pump out the air -- but they are not very effective (waste of money in my opinion), and somedevices that pump nitrogen into the bottle to exclude oxygen, but these are expensive and still a bit iffy.