Wine 101: How Long does Wine Last after Opening

Have you ever opened a bottle of wine and not finished it? Ever troubled that your opened wine turns into undrinkable vinegar after a few days? If you’re wondering, “How long does wine last after opening?” you’ve come to the right place! 

Generally speaking, white wine lasts for 1-3 days storing in the refrigerator, while red wine lasts longer for 1-2 weeks after opening. But this does not mean the old wine will hurt you, it’s just not as yummy.

Why wine goes bad?

No matter red wine or white wine, appropriate amount of oxygen is beneficial. But once the bottle is opened, excessive contact between wine and oxygen will destroy the flavor of wine quickly. You may know that tannin and acidity in wine determines the flavor of a bottle of wine, but both of them are easily to be oxidized. In the first few hours, oxidation will make the wine softer and tastier to drink. This is why we need to decant wine for a smother flavor. But as the oxidation continues, aroma and sweetness of wine will disappear gradually. But the long the process of oxidation, the more oxides will be produced, which finally makes the wine become undrinkable vinegar. In this process, the oxidation rate varies with different wine.

How long does wine last after opening?

This is not the question about how long the wine expires, but it’s the question on how long the wine keeps its flavor after opening. If only taking “not causing upset stomach” as standard, the viability of wine after opening is really considerable. But its taste is really what dares not be flattered.

If we get to the root of the matter, we can find that the “culprit” causing wine deterioration is “air”. So if you want to extend the life of wine after opening, you must block the contact of wine with air. Now there is a kind of vacuum pump in market which can suck the air from wine bottle. It is said that the life span of wine can be extended to 2 weeks with this small equipment. And the wine after sucking air is best to be placed in refrigerator uprightly.

If you like drinking wine, but cannot drink the whole bottle at a time, you can try the following methods to keep you wine last longer.

1. Choose some wine that can last for a long time after opening. Fortified wines can last open for up to a month for the special technology in the brewing process.
2. Transfer the rest of wine to a smaller bottle and screw down the lid, or suck the air with a vacuum pump. Thus the excessive contact of wine with air can be blocked.
3. Store the rest wine with an Ecooe Amazon Best Seller stainless steel vacuum seal bottle stopper at an ideal temperature ( what temperature should red wine be stored?)

All in all, if you are not sure whether the wine can be drunk or not after a period, you’d better taste a sip. If you like the taste, please enjoy it. Otherwise, just throw it away.