What is the self life for a typical bottle of Red wine?
Monday, February 23rd, 2009 at
5:22 am
REEMPIRE888 asked:
I opened a bottle of red wine (cabinet) about six months ago and there were about half of bottle remaining so I corked it back into the bottle. Last night I poured some out of the same bottle and it appears that the color of the wine has changed to deep darkish red/brown colour along with lots of particals. What is that and is it safe to drink in that condition. How do I prevent that from happening in the future? Maybe the cork’s mass is not air tight enough caused the wine to degrade? Is there a self life for wine after all?
I opened a bottle of red wine (cabinet) about six months ago and there were about half of bottle remaining so I corked it back into the bottle. Last night I poured some out of the same bottle and it appears that the color of the wine has changed to deep darkish red/brown colour along with lots of particals. What is that and is it safe to drink in that condition. How do I prevent that from happening in the future? Maybe the cork’s mass is not air tight enough caused the wine to degrade? Is there a self life for wine after all?
Tagged with: Brown Colour • Self Life • Wine Bottle
Filed under: Wine
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ah…SHELF LIFE……wine’s loveliest trait is that it can be stored in a cool dark place for a really long time….UNOPENED…you probably think those little things floating around are the cork…but it’s probably mold…once opened, you should try to drink it as soon as possible….oh and refrigerate once opened, i would think…and drink within a couple days, i would think
An opened bottle of wine needs to be refrigerated and needs to be consumed within a few days for best quality. The color change you experienced is common with “over aged” wines. Had you actually had a glass of your wine it would have tasted more like red wine vinegar than anything else. It is actually a myth that wine gets better with age. Most wines are intended to be consumed within about a year of production. However, some red wines will last longer than that.
Addition:
Well Jim you are right to an extent. To keep a red wine for 50+ years It would need to be stored in perfect condition. This means no light, no vibration, and the perfect temperature. So unless you have an actual “wine cellar” I would say that about 10 years is the max for a red wine and about 2-3 for a white wine. The catch is that there is no definite way to know when a wine has reached its peak. So drink it while you have it.
Hey Carolyn N has pretty much summed it up.
Remember the bottle going glug glug ******* air back into the bottle ????
taste it !! it more than likely is vinigar.
The shelf life of wine depends on it’s condition before you open the bottle. Wine that is past its’ vintage or poorly stored can go bad before you even open it! But, to answer your question, based on the fact that wine starts to oxidize as soon as you open it, the average shelf life for an open bottle is 3 days. After that, use it for cooking.
There are some wines that are meant to drink fast. Once the wine were openned oxidation happens because of the air exposures. Thats why if you drink wine it can last until 3 days depending on the quality. Storing it in the chiller after opening helps too, to preserve the taste of your wine. But once you see deep dark color in your wine (loses the robust color) and taste vinegary… thats considered as a dead wine.
Once you break the seal and open it – It is mean’t to be drunk not put on the shelf for months at a time.
If you aren’t going to drink it or share it – don’t open it.
And by all means if it is a good wine – store it properly – cool and dark .
I wouldn’t even use it for vinegar the shape that’s in – dump it – you killed it – it’s dead, bury it !
Also, I do not agree with Nolan – A GOOD red wine left unopened, does in fact – Mature and Age.
With time if left unopened, and stored properly – some of the most expensive wines in the world today are hundreds of years old ! !
And because of proper storage and care, these wines sell for thousands of dollars per bottle.
Enjoy
j