keeping opened red wine

DamoRed

Hi all,

Can anyone please tell me how long a bottle of red wine will keep for after a glass or two is poured from it? Also what conditions should it be kept in?

Thank you


Damo

xzanti

Iv often drank red wine weeks after opening it... Never did me any harm, once the cork is put back in of course... tasted grand too

As for storing conditions... AFAIK red wine should always be kept at room temperature...

But you probably know that already ?

The Sweeper

I BELIEVE... (and feel free to correct me, the viticulturists amongst you)...

A bottle of red or white wine, securely sealed with its original cork or a rubber wine-stopper, will keep for three days. It gradually begins to go bad - you can tell by the taste. The same way you may use milk after its use-by date by smelling and tasting it before you pour, you should smell and taste the wine before you decide to guzzle glasses of it.

You should refrigerate re-sealed wine - both red and white. With the red, take it out of the fridge at least half an hour before you intend to serve it.

Degradation of wine is started when the wine comes into contact with oxygen, e.g. when you open it. Re-sealing and refrigeration can slow that degradation.

daiixi

red wine should be kept at low 20 degree temperature.. with a cork back in the bottle it should keep for up to a week or so depending on the wine.. only question is, why is there any left??

Alun

Oxygen is your enemy when trying to keep wine. Those VacuVin thingies work great for this. Just pop in the rubber 'cork', attach the vacuum pump and pump out as much air as possible. Will keep for a couple of days at least.

DamoRed

Thanks to everyone for your answers. I thought the best policy was, in view of all the other lubrication available, and wanting to avoid any possible problems, I just cut my losses on it. But for future reference, I think I'll take the advice of getting a vacuvin.

Damo

steveland?

A little tip I picked up a while ago is to buy a half bottle of wine, then when it's finished thoroughly wash it out and dry it.

Whenever you open a bottle of wine afterwards and you're leaving half of it for the next day pour it into the (immaculately clean) half bottle and recork it.

Cuts down the amount of oxygen in the wine which keeps it fresh.

In a full bottle that's been uncorked wine will keep for around 2 or 3 days before starting to taste a bit cack...

Nevyn

if your not going to drink the last glass of a bottle then make red wine icecubes and use them for cooking with.

Drag00n79

Minesajackdaniels wrote:

You should refrigerate re-sealed wine - both red and white. With the red, take it out of the fridge at least half an hour before you intend to serve it.

Degradation of wine is started when the wine comes into contact with oxygen, e.g. when you open it. Re-sealing and refrigeration can slow that degradation.

I believe this is indeed true.

hullaballoo

Wine is to be kept at 16°C for both red and white. It should be stored upright and should be kept until it 'ripens'.

Once opened, it should be consumed within three days, after which the ethonol (alcohol) and ethenal (which gives it its smoothe and sweet flavour) become ethonoic acid (vinegar) and become very acidic and don't taste too good.

There's almost no way to stop that happening once opened, so the best bet is to drink up.

rubadub

For vinegar to be made it needs a vinegar culture, also carried by "vinegar flies", I used to do homebrew outdoors in the summer and would see lots of these flies attracted to the smell. It will not turn into vinegar unless infected, also once infected it needs warmth for the new vinegar "fermentation" to take place. I am not a wine expert but I would have thought it should be kept as cool like 1-4C to stop bacteria multiplying. These 16C and 20C may refer to the maturation of already sealed wine, but I do not see what negative effect 4C would have on an already mature wine, yet I DO see the negative effect on the wine if kept at 16-20C.

There are millions of airborne contaminants in the air you should keep the wine corked if you plan on keeping the bottle a while. As mentioned you can pour into a smaller bottle, or you could pour into a 500ml PET bottle, then squeeze the sides to push the air out, then cap it. Wont look too nice! and if kept in the light for a long time it may get a slight plastic taste.

hullaballoo

rubadub wrote:

For vinegar to be made it needs a vinegar culture

Actually, straight oxidation can take place without "cultures". The bacteria used to turn alcohol into vinegar (ethanoic acid) is a catalyst, not a chemical component to the reaction, so when you were making your vinegar, you were just speeding up the reaction.

If you smell or taste wine that's been left in the open air for a couple of days, there is a distinct vinegar smell/taste, that's a result of the reaction beginning.

aw

My Dad always puts a knife, (an ordinary butter knife), down into the bottle.
He maintains it keeps the wine fresh for longer.

Has anyone else ever heard of this?

Blub2k4

I have a can of spray at home that contains Argon which is an inert gas, the can feels empty when full but does for 120 uses and apparently is used in the industry a lot.
basically you spray it into the bottle after you have finished and then recap it.
It works on the principal that the inert gas is heavier than air and sits on top of the wine and protects it from exposure to oxygen.
It works fine for me.

I did leave a bottle back once and ended up a few months later with nailvarnish remover, it is the next step from vinegar in the organic chemistry chain, this was interesting to smell, to say the least, needless to say it did not get drunk.

<edit> to aw: the knife or spoon in the neck of the bottle is a myth, it is practised in the industry, but that does not take away from the fact that it is a myth and there is no basis for it to make any difference.

rubadub

aw wrote:

My Dad always puts a knife, (an ordinary butter knife), down into the bottle.
He maintains it keeps the wine fresh for longer.

Has anyone else ever heard of this?

I think silver has anti-bacterial properties, normal steel doesnt.

Blub2k4

rubadub wrote:

I think silver has anti-bacterial properties, normal steel doesnt.

that could possibly be correct, it would make sense but I would call it a legacy solution these days