You haven't finished your bottle of wine ? It would not be reasonable to force yourself... But how long can you keep it once opened ?
The wine lover who wants a drink to relax after work or during a meal, one day or another finds himself in a crucial dilemma. How long can you keep an opened bottle before the wine turns bad ?
A bottle of wine quickly loses its qualities when it is stored "in emptying" - that's how you call a opened bottle —.
You never paid attention to the evolution over time of an opened bottle ? Then you should try to taste a bottle for several days. You will notice that the wine will evolve very quickly.
He will start to improve with oxygen, revealing more powerful aromas then will deteriorate. Depending on the type of wine, evolution is more or less rapid and solutions exist to extend the life of your precious bottles.
The lifespan of champagne and other effervescents
The bubbles in sparkling wines come from the input of CO2 dissolved in the wine. When the bottle is not yet open, the CO2 is trapped in it. When it opens, excess gas under pressure escapes, hence the pop.
To go further, I invite you to read the stages of making champagne in the article " How to choose a bottle of Champagne ? ".
The problem with this gas is that it tends to escape very quickly. It is easy to see it in a glass of champagne. After 1 minute, bubbles are less visible, but the effervescence is still present in the mouth. After several minutes, there is no more effervescence, neither to the eye nor in the mouth.
To keep your opened bottle of champagne, keep it upright in the fridge. As well, keep in mind that the lower the level of champagne is on your bottle, the faster the gas will dissipate.
Thanks to the champagne stopper, you can keep your bottle 2 to 3 days. If you don't have one, a bottle of sparkling wine should be consumed during the day so that the wine does not lose too much of its characteristic freshness.
A started sparkling wine can be kept until 3 days in the fridge with a champagne cork.
The lifespan of white or red wine
Even if there are no bubbles in white wines, the evolution of freshness is essential. As time go by, the aromas will change. Acetic bacteria begin by oxidizing alcohol to ethanal, giving aromas of chard apple and walnuts, then in acetic acid. This is the formation of vinegar. We are talking here about acetic sting.
We can summarize the evolution of an open bottle in three steps :
- Growth : once the bottle is opened, the oxygen will reveal the aromas. A bottle opened the day before will generally have a more interesting profile..
- Maturity : the alcohol begins to oxidize and becomes ethanal and the feeling of freshness disappears to become heavy. The wine begins to change, but these aromas can still be appreciable.
- Decline : this is the end of a blue dream. Acetic acid appears with rather discreet aromas of vinegar on the nose, but very present in the mouth. After a few days, you will smell the vinegar in your nostrils.
After three days, the wine will pass to the stage of maturity. I therefore advise you to drink your bottle of wine in the 3 days. Store your white wine vertically in your fridge. On the other hand, red wine can be stored in a cool room away from light.
A bottle of red or white wine can be kept until 3 days.
The lifespan of sweet wine, very sweet or dessert wine
By nature, these wines have residual sugar that other wines do not have. This is a real advantage for its storage once opened because the presence of sugar and alcohol prevents the rapid development of microorganisms. I advise you to consume this kind of wine within three weeks.
A opened bottle of sweet wine, sweet or syrupy keeps until 3 weeks.
The lifespan of fortified wines, natural sweet wines
Fortified wines and natural sweet wines – Porto, Xérès, Maury… – have a much longer lifespan after opening. These wines are produced by adding brandy. They can be easily stored until 4 months without being altered. The important thing is to keep them away from light and heat.
An opened bottle of fortified wine or natural sweet wine can be kept until 4 months in a cool place and in the dark.
Wine in a box
Wine in box and other Bag-in-boxes are wonderful for consuming wine regularly without losing its characteristics. The pocket prevents oxygen from coming into contact with the wine. You can keep your wine 2 to 3 weeks to taste it.
A opened box of wine can be kept up to 3 weeks.
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in passing , very good blog , we learn with pleasure , very informative, I did not know , finally , many things , good luck here and on facebook
Philippe
Thank you Philippe for your arrival on the Facebook page and the blog 🙂
Your message really makes me happy, because I always try to write articles that are complete enough to answer questions from novices and pros alike !
See you soon Philippe
You are a little behind on the means of conservation. It has been around since 30 years of stoppers to create a vacuum in the bottles. Vacuvin created the concept. White and red wines can thus be stored for several weeks., as long as the bottle is not nearly empty ...
Thank you for raising this point. However, no delay on my part…
This is an article entitled "How long to keep an opened bottle ? ". Therefore, I only indicated the answer to this question.
On the other hand, an article "How to keep a wine already open ? "Is in my drafts while waiting to be finalized…