The best thing to do with wine is to drink it and the worst thing to do with wine is to pour it down the sink! But the saddest fact is that your newly opened bottle of wine will not last forever.
Once you uncork the bottle, you usually have a few days before it becomes undrinkable. If you want to extend an opened bottle's shelf life, there are some tips you can follow to prolong its shelf life. How long will vary based on the quality of the wine. There are many factors that will affect how long different wines can be kept and relished once opened. After all, you should drink the stuff and not throw away perfectly good wine out of fear that it might have gone bad.
Oxygen is wine’s biggest “frenemy”. The main reason why wine gets spoiled is because of its extended exposure to air.
When you open a bottle of wine you are exposing the wine to air causing some complex chemical reactions to occur. Initially, this will help liberate a lot of those lovely aromas and flavors and be a very good thing for the wine but over time it leads to oxidation. Some wines like Sherry from Jerez, Spain bloom and become richer with oxidation whereas young vibrant 7 to 9 % alcohol Vinho Verde from Portugal will quickly oxidize and lose its delicate fruit flavors with extended exposure to air.
What is oxidation? The technical definition: Oxidation is the loss of electrons during a reaction by a molecule, atom, or ion. In basic terms, oxidation is going to make your wine turn a brown color, it dulls the aromas and flavors over time, it leaves the wine tasting quite sour and turns it into vinegar.
What can you do to slow down the oxidation process of your open bottle of wine to make your open bottle of wine last longer?
Get the cork, screw cap, wine stopper back in the bottle asap to limit oxygen exposure.
Put your left-over wine – even red wine – in the fridge. The cooler temperature will slow down the rate of oxidation. But most important is to not store wine bottles in the freezer. The freezing will cause the liquid to expand and can push the cork up and cause a big mess in your freezer.
Once the wine has truly passed its prime do not rush to throw it out. There is still lots of cool stuff you can do with it. You can make homemade vinegar, if you are feeling adventurous or lots of tasty white or red wine sauces. You could also fill an ice tray with the left-over wine and put it in your freezer. This is a perfect trick, this way you will always have wine ready the next time a recipe calls for it without having to open a new bottle.
Most still wines such as a red, white, or rosé will last between 3 to 5 days. Better-quality wines will last about a week before losing some of their freshness and fruit characteristics. For instance, the bigger red wine will last longer than a delicate white wine. The more compounds and structure a wine has it is going to take longer for the wine to break down. The wine will naturally last a bit longer.
Keep in mind, that dessert wines or wines high in alcohol such as 14 ½% or higher are going to last a bit longer than wines that are lower in alcohol percentage. Wines that are low in alcohol are the ones that will spoil the quickest.
Sparkling wines will last for around 1 to 3 days. In general, it should be served a bit sooner before it goes flat.
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