How long does a bottle of open white wine last for cooking?

freshpopcorn

How long does a bottle of open white wine last for cooking?

We wouldn't drink wine at all but we've started making sauces that contain it. We're just wondering how long would an open bottle of white wine last for in the fridge.
I've been told by some it would last for 1-2 days and others it would for a month because it's only being used for cooking.
Any advice?
Thanks!

hearmehearye

freshpopcorn wrote:

We wouldn't drink wine at all but we've started making sauces that contain it. We're just wondering how long would an open bottle of white wine last for in the fridge. I've been told by some it would last for 1-2 days and others it would for a month because it's only being used for cooking. Any advice? Thanks!

You can buy gadgets that replace the oxygen in the bottle with an inert gas. From my own personal drinking experience, it starts to really degrade in quality after day 3. Maybe start buying smaller bottles? Or make a large batch of sauce using most of the wine and freeze the sauce in smaller batches?

murphyebass

freshpopcorn wrote: »

We wouldn't drink wine at all

.... and others it would for a month because it's only being used for cooking.

Any advice?

Thanks!

A few days would be personal view which ties in with your first statement about if you wouldn't drink it why would you cook with it.

Whoever told you a month is mad imo.

No expert here btw, just my two cents on what is bound to be a hot topic with massively varying views

freshpopcorn

I'm not really a drinker and don't like wine at all to drink I just enjoy a creamy white wine sauce.
I was basically told that because your cooking off the wine that you'd get away with it longer than if you were drinking it!

Satriale

I freeze it for cooking.,

the beer revolu

I always have a bottle of cheap white wine for cooking. It could sometimes be open for up to a couple of months. If it's there for a while II always have a sip before using to check it hasn't turnedturned to vinegar.

It keeps fine for cooking with.

So, easily a month.

vicwatson

Satriale wrote: »

I freeze it for cooking.,

+1 in ice cube trays then I can chuck them into sauces as needed

odyssey06

Open sherry lasts a long longer as it's fortified, might make a good substitute in a lot of dishes, especially if they are Iberian

Also, keep any small bottles you use, and pour from the open bottle into the small bottle minimizing the amount of air left in the small bottle - so right up to the neck. The wine will last better the less oxygen it's exposed to. I've had white wine left in fridge like this after a week without a noticeable hit in taste.
You could do the same with the sherry out of the fridge.

Keane2baMused

No chance would I use wine a month after opening, neither for drinking or cooking.

Within 3 days ideally but no more than 5.

rubadub

vicwatson wrote: »

+1 in ice cube trays then I can chuck them into sauces as needed

or funnel it into ice cube bags. I have a dedicated ice tray for sauces, stuff like natural yogurt it much cheaper per ml in big tubs.

odyssey06 wrote: »

keep any small bottles you use, and pour from the open bottle into the small bottle minimizing the amount of air left in the small bottle - so right up to the neck.

If you put it in small coke bottles you can squeeze it so the liquid is right up to the top and then cap it.

cnocbui

I use a Vacu Vin pump to evacuate the air from my white wine and it lasts at least a month.

Faith

Tom Dunne

Five days is probably the extent to which I would go for cooking with wine.

the beer revolu

Keane2baMused wrote: »

No chance would I use wine a month after opening, neither for drinking or cooking.

Within 3 days ideally but no more than 5.

Why?
Serious question.

Faith

Faith wrote: »

Yeah, it's like recipes for 'using up leftover roast potatoes'

Keane2baMused

the beer revolu wrote: »

Why?
Serious question.

Taste wine on day one and then a week later and you'll see why.

This definitely comes through in sauces as the flavour changes when it goes off. A mellow wine that's off can become bitter and vinegary.

I go by the rule of if I can't drink it I can't cook with it. Tried, tested and would never do it again.

Keane2baMused

Mystery Egg wrote: »

Yeah, it's like recipes for 'using up leftover roast potatoes'

Or stuffing!

murphyebass

Keane2baMused wrote: »

Taste wine on day one and then a week later and you'll see why.

This definitely comes through in sauces as the flavour changes when it goes off. A mellow wine that's off can become bitter and vinegary.

I go by the rule of if I can't drink it I can't cook with it. Tried, tested and would never do it again.

I'd agree with this.

It's like people buying really cheap wine to cook with.

Why would you cook with a poor/cheap quality product.

Melendez

This post has been deleted.

Keane2baMused

Melendez wrote: »

If you got random people to blind taste a €50 bottle of Barolo against a €7.99 Australian Shiraz and ask people to chose the better wine, no more than 70% would get it right. If you first simmered both wines in garlic, onion, herbs and meat fat for a couple of hours the result would be spot on 50% if the sample size was big enough.

The point is more related to wine which has gone off though.

murphyebass

Melendez wrote: »

If you got random people to blind taste a €50 bottle of Barolo against a €7.99 Australian Shiraz and ask people to chose the better wine, no more than 70% would get it right. If you first simmered both wines in garlic, onion, herbs and meat fat for a couple of hours the result would be spot on 50% if the sample size was big enough.

I'm in the 30% then.

Similarly if you showed me a cheap bottle of beer vs a good bottle of craft beer I could tell you the difference straight away.

Everyone's palates are different no doubt but the question the op asked was how long does the bottle of wine last.

My opinion is it will deteriorate over time and realistically if it doesn't taste good after 3 days which it most likely won't be it a €50 bottle or a €10 bottle you shouldn't be cooking with it as the poor flavours you're tasting by the glass will transfer to the food albeit it somewhat masked depending on herbs, spices, etc..

Melendez

This post has been deleted.

murphyebass

murphyebass wrote: »

I'm in the 30% then.

Similarly if you showed me a cheap bottle of beer vs a good bottle of craft beer I could tell you the difference straight away.

Everyone's palates are different no doubt but the question the op asked was how long does the bottle of wine last.

My opinion is it will deteriorate over time and realistically if it doesn't taste good after 3 days which it most likely won't be it a €50 bottle or a €10 bottle you shouldn't be cooking with it as the poor flavours you're tasting by the glass will transfer to the food albeit it somewhat masked depending on herbs, spices, etc..

Everyone thinks they are in the 30%.

For cooking, it's crazy to buy expensive wine. Completely crazy.

The answer to the question is that if you put a cork in it and keep it in the fridge you won't find anything noticeably terrible about it for a week or so, and it certainly isn't dangerous to leave it longer, it's just a taste thing.

the solution to your problem is to start drinking wine btw:)

Melendez

This post has been deleted.

There's actually been quite a lot of research on the subject:
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jun/23/wine-tasting-junk-science-analysis

The Bishop Basher

I've kept wine for a couple of months and used it for cooking and I can confirm that my stroganoff didn't suffer at all as a result.

On a side note, there really is so much nonsense about wine in this country. I can think of few things more painful when in social company then the eejit in the corner who's attended a couple of work wine tasting nights and thinks he's a feckin connoisseur.

The Italians, French and Spanish don't go on about it like we do. They tend to drink relatively cheap wines of reasonable quality, often filling up their own containers from the back of a tanker.

Meanwhile, Paddy's busy feeling very important in himself, tasting the wine in the restaurant from the screw cap bottle, in front of his suitably impressed guests, with no idea why he's doing it other then he gets to exclaim loudly how its a lovely buttery number with chewy tannins and a delicate aroma blah blah blah.... No-one is ever impressed...

Obviously how much you choose to spend is your own perogative but i'd bet the house that anyone claiming to be in "30%" will not be able to tell the difference between an €8 bottle and a €30 bottle chucked into a beef casserole.

I don't drink these days so I don't buy full bottles for cooking anymore. The quarter bottles do the job nicely and cut down on the need to keep it for long periods in the first place.

murphyebass

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Everyone thinks they are in the 30%.

For cooking, it's crazy to buy expensive wine. Completely crazy.

The answer to the question is that if you put a cork in it and keep it in the fridge you won't find anything noticeably terrible about it for a week or so, and it certainly isn't dangerous to leave it longer, it's just a taste thing.

the solution to your problem is to start drinking wine btw:)

Being able to tell the difference between a €50 bottle and a €10 bottle is not tough.

Similarly it is incredibly easy to tell the difference between a bottle of mass produced beer and a craft beer.

It's apples and oranges in both cases.

I will agree with you on one point however the solution is to drink it.

murphyebass

murphyebass wrote: »

Being able to tell the difference between a €50 bottle and a €10 bottle is not tough.

Similarly it is incredibly easy to tell the difference between a bottle of mass produced beer and a craft beer.

It's apples and oranges in both cases.

I will agree with you on one point however the solution is to drink it.

Research suggests that it is surprisingly difficult to tell the difference between a €50 and a €10 bottle of wine. I am not sure I would want to have a go blind. I was recently on a wine tasting tour in california and tasted some extremely expensive wine. Even when knowing the price I felt it wouldn't have been out of place selling for a tenner in Lidl.

Craft beer and mass produced beer is a different story entirely, most of the former is aggressively hopped to the extent that it's a completely different drink. Not sure I'd be super confident distinguishing between a craft lager and heineken though (don't drink either to be fair)

murphyebass

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Research suggests that it is surprisingly difficult to tell the difference between a €50 and a €10 bottle of wine. I am not sure I would want to have a go blind. I was recently on a wine tasting tour in california and tasted some extremely expensive wine. Even when knowing the price I felt it wouldn't have been out of place selling for a tenner in Lidl.

Craft beer and mass produced beer is a different story entirely, most of the former is aggressively hopped to the extent that it's a completely different drink. Not sure I'd be super confident distinguishing between a craft lager and heineken though (don't drink either to be fair)

We'll just have to agree to disagree on the wine end of things so.
If you can't tell the difference that's fine. Pretty great to be honest as you can drink cheap muck and think it's the same as a nice bottle.

As for craft beer not "most" of it is aggressively hopped. The IPA end of the market can be depending on the beer but stouts and porters just for example wouldn't be yet would be easily differentiated from their mass produced counterparts.

And as for craft larger vs mass produced again very simple to tell the difference. I'd even go as far as to say just by the smell alone you could tell the difference.

Keane2baMused

The fact about wine is it's purely subjective.

One mans trash..

The Bishop Basher

murphyebass wrote: »

Being able to tell the difference between a €50 bottle and a €10 bottle is not tough.

The internet is littered with examples of "experts" who can't tell the difference...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/katiebell/2012/07/09/is-there-really-a-taste-difference-between-cheap-and-expensive-wines/#173b8b707581

I've linked that article because I believe it highlights the problems associated with claiming to be an "expert" on wines...

There are just so many variables that will change the experience for the drinker.

murphyebass

Swanner wrote: »

The internet is littered with examples of "experts" who can't tell the difference...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/katiebell/2012/07/09/is-there-really-a-taste-difference-between-cheap-and-expensive-wines/#173b8b707581

I've linked that article because I believe it highlights the problems associated with claiming to be an "expert" on wines...

There are just so many variables that will change the experience for the drinker.

Nothing to do with being an "expert" but a bog standard bottle of €10 wine tastes massively different to a €50 bottle.

Like a cheap whiskey vs an expensive one.

Similarly with cheap coffee or cheese or whatever other food substance you chose.

Cheap counterpart rarely taste the same. Sure if they did we'd all buy them. The reason we spend that bit more for a bottle of wine or that nice block of cheese is because they do taste different/better/whatever.

murphyebass

murphyebass wrote: »

Nothing to do with being an "expert" but a bog standard bottle of €10 wine tastes massively different to a €50 bottle.

Like a cheap whiskey vs an expensive one.

Similarly with cheap coffee or cheese or whatever other food substance you chose.

Cheap counterpart rarely taste the same. Sure if they did we'd all buy them. The reason we spend that bit more for a bottle of wine or that nice block of cheese is because they do taste different/better/whatever.

Are you reading any of the articles?

Everyone THINKS they can taste the difference. When you put them in a blind tasting situation, suddenly they can't. Wine in particular is notorious in this area. I've been in a blind test where myself and another person couldn't agree on the COLOUR of the wine.

rubadub

murphyebass wrote: »

It's like people buying really cheap wine to cook with.

Why would you cook with a poor/cheap quality product.

They might be poor themselves, or might not be able to tell the difference, or do not think the increase in quality warrants the higher price. Maybe they decide to spend €x on the meal and bought a better quality cut of meat or dessert which they feel is better value.

If I can barely taste the difference, I will not pay it, unless its small. I can tell cheap beer from decent beer, at home I drink cheaper beers, I do not think what I consider a small quality/taste difference is worth paying 2.5 times the price for it, or €1.50 extra. While in a pub the difference in price between what I consider "quality A" and "quality B" maybe only 10-30cent, so I do pay the difference, at €5 vs €5.30 the % difference is must less too. I do drink a lot so that must be factored in too.

murphyebass wrote: »

Nothing to do with being an "expert" but a bog standard bottle of €10 wine tastes massively different to a €50 bottle.

Like a cheap whiskey vs an expensive one.

Vodka is a standout one, sugars can be cheaper to brew from and many distillers consider sugar based brews to be superior. But there is a tradition of making it with grains which carries on.

Blind tastes can be very advisable, for some products more than others.

Ian Wisniewski, one of Britain's leading spirits experts, and Tom Innes, the former editor of bar and lifestyle magazine, Theme

VODKA TEST
After tasting the following vodkas blind with spirits experts Ian Wisniewski and Tom Innes, here are the winners and the losers. All the vodkas are widely available.
1st: Glen's (£8.69)
2nd: Russian Standard (£13.29)
3rd: Absolut (£14.99)
4th: Wyborowa (£15.99)
5th: Finlandia (£14.19)
Joint 6th: Smirnoff Red (£12.19);
Stolichnaya (£14.99);
Belvedere (£30)
9th: Grey Goose (£30.79)
10th: Smirnoff Black (£15.99)

Glen's is sugar based.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/wine/5770943/10-vodkas-put-to-the-test.html

If you do blind tastes you might save a fortune, some seem scared to do them, perhaps worried they might reveal they have "cheap taste", even though the more expensive ingredients might just be used out of tradition.

pwurple

Swanner wrote: »

Meanwhile, Paddy's busy feeling very important in himself, tasting the wine in the restaurant from the screw cap bottle, in front of his suitably impressed guests, with no idea why he's doing it other then he gets to exclaim loudly how its a lovely buttery number with chewy tannins and a delicate aroma blah blah blah.... No-one is ever impressed...

This drives me nuts, that people don't know what that tasting thing is about.

It's ONLY purpose is to agree to purchase the wine. There is no other function. It's not to compliment the wine, or to discuss it, or blah blah blah. It's to confirm that it is the bottle that you ordered (hence them showing you the label before opening it), and then you taste (or not) to check it's not gone bad etc.

Financial transaction only.

The Bishop Basher

It has everything to do with claiming to be an expert.

Joe Punter doesn't claim to know the difference between a €10 and a €50 bottle. He just knows what he likes the taste of, regardless of the price tag, and he drinks it.

You know the difference. You're obviously confident in your knowledge of the subject and fair play, there's nothing wrong with that.

All i'm saying is that professionals who are paid to know the difference very often get it spectacularly wrong and the reality as i see it is that they never actually had a chance of knowing because there are just too many variables involved.

They may get the technical aspects correct like variety, region or a vintage but taste is just personal perception at the end of the day and you can't be an expert on other people's perceptions.

I also think it's dangerous to get too hung up on a price tag as i've tasted some local wines in France that were cheap as chips but of vastly superior quality (imho) to anything i've bought here for five times the price. Some were that good i brought vats of it home and bottled them

the beer revolu

I put many things in stews and sauces that I would sip and taste but wouldn't dream of drinking a glass of.
I wouldn't drink a glass of soy sauce but I often use as much as a glass of it in certain dishes (usually less than that).
I always taste wine before adding it to food.
If it's not vinegar and has no nasty off flavours, then in it goes. I often have leftover red wine but as we don't drink much white wine, I buy cheap white for cooking but I will always taste it before adding even if just opened. A really acidic wine will be really acidic in a dish but I challenge anyone to spot a wine in a dish that has lost some of its aroma or is a bit oxidised!

I cook with wine and beer a lot. Often beers that I don't like to drink can make amazing sauces and gravies - even when sitting with a Cork in the bottle for weeks or months.

I think people learn and apply certain rules regarding cooking with wine and apply them blindly. In my extensive, practical experience I find these rules to be complete horsepooh but, obviously, if you pour vinegar or wine with a nasty infection into a dish, it will ruin it.

Always taste first.

KenjiOdo

pretty sure corked will last longer than screw cap.. as it allows for the wine to "breathe" saying that probably a week tops before it starts becoming white wine vinegar!

Dial Hard

KenjiOdo wrote: »

pretty sure corked will last longer than screw cap.. as it allows for the wine to "breathe"

Actually I'm pretty sure that keeping as much air as possible out of the wine will make it last longer. The reason wine is stored on its side is to keep the ends of the corks wet so that they don't contract and allow air into the bottle.

KenjiOdo wrote: »

saying that probably a week tops before it starts becoming white wine vinegar!

Nope, I've cooked with wine older than this and it's been absolutely fine.

Tom Dunne

A few years ago (Celtic Tiger era), I had a bottle of wine for an anniversary that was around 100 Euro.

A non-drinker friend of mine, utterly aghast at the cost of the wine asked to taste it. She loved it. She sampled wine here and there over the years and as a non-drinker, she could tell the difference. However, that was her taste. I'm sure if my father (who drinks Santa Rita Merlot, God help him) tried the 100 Euro bottle, it wouldn't be to his taste.

Notwithstanding the above, I don't think that translates into wine for cooking. I'd throw a cheap Australian Shiraz onto a roast beef while cooking, I certainly wouldn't do the same with a St. Emillion Grand Cru (unless you wanted to see a grown man cry). If I actually did throw the St. Emillion onto it, would I really notice the difference? I doubt it.

Would I notice if either bottle had been open a day, a week or a month? I seriously doubt it.

But again, that's just my wholly subjective opinion.

catho_monster

Tom Dunne wrote: »

Notwithstanding the above, I don't think that translates into wine for cooking. I'd throw a cheap Australian Shiraz onto a roast beef while cooking, I certainly wouldn't do the same with a St. Emillion Grand Cru (unless you wanted to see a grown man cry). If I actually did throw the St. Emillion onto it, would I really notice the difference? I doubt it.

I would actually cry if anyone in my household put st emillion in cooking. I save the good wine for drinking and the wine we've been gifted (nearly always not great wine) for cooking. If there's some left over, I stick it in a yogurt container in the freezer (wrapped in a freezer bag). When it's time to deglaze a pan, a hack a bit out with a fork and I'm good to go. It doesn't freeze solid so it works great...

pwurple

Sherry is my option for this. Sherry lasts absolutely yonks, being fortified. And I love the deeper flavours too.

Melendez

This post has been deleted.

the beer revolu

Melendez wrote: »

Extra dry vermouth should also work as a substitute for white wine and will keep well for a long period. As with sherry, the sauce/dish will be a slightly different flavour but it should still work where you are supposed to add a glass or two of white wine to the dish. I can't say I've ever tried it where the recipe called for a full bottle of wine.

On recommendation from someone here II tried Lidl dry vermouth as a sub for white wine. Never again, it was foul.

Sapphire

the beer revolu wrote: »

On recommendation from someone here II tried Lidl dry vermouth as a sub for white wine. Never again, it was foul.

I did that too with the same outcome. I'm hoping it was just the particular recipe. I'd say it would even go untouched at a house party.

the beer revolu

Sapphire wrote: »

I did that too with the same outcome. I'm hoping it was just the particular recipe. I'd say it would even go untouched at a house party.

I think it went down the drain which is a rare thing for me with booze. If I won't drink it, I'll cook with it or find someone who will drink it.
This stuff beat me.

Sapphire

the beer revolu wrote: »

I think it went down the drain which is a rare thing for me with booze. If I won't drink it, I'll cook with it or find someone who will drink it.
This stuff beat me.

I may have to toss it all right.

Melendez

This post has been deleted.

L1011

the beer revolu wrote: »

On recommendation from someone here II tried Lidl dry vermouth as a sub for white wine. Never again, it was foul.

Lidl's vermouth is without a doubt the worst alcoholic product they sell. And I say this with Castelgy gin, their 40% vodka, blue curacao, creme de cassis and bourbon from Lidl in the cocktail cabinet currently - they do sell usable stuff normally.

I also use Aldi's 8 year old scotch as my normal quick drinking or cocktail scotch - in a cocktail I can't tell whether it or Johnnie Walker Black was used.

freshpopcorn

Thanks for the advice. I've decided that my best option would be just to buy the small little bottles of white wine because it's something I'd rarely be using.

Zascar

cnocbui wrote: »

I use a Vacu Vin pump to evacuate the air from my white wine and it lasts at least a month.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vacu-Vin-Concerto-Vacuum-Stoppers/dp/B00005U2FA/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1461878028&sr=1-1&keywords=Vacu+Vin

This is a great idea, thanks might get one of these