Can You Drink Old Opened Wine? (Shelf Life, Storage Tips, & More)

by Anthony Zhang

If you’ve ever had leftover wine sitting in your fridge for a few days, you may have wondered if you can still drink it.

Put your mind at ease as we discover all the answers, including how long opened wine will last, how to tell if it has gone bad, what to do with opened wine, and how to improve the shelf life of your unopened wine bottles.

Can You Drink Old Opened Wine?

Yes. Drinking old opened wine is harmless because the wine doesn’t contain any dangerous bacteria.

Even if the wine appears to have mold, you won’t get ill from drinking it (unlike with spoiled food, for example).

However, the flavor and aroma of spoiled wine or corked wine (cork taint) won’t be pleasant and can taste weird.

Here’s a quick look at what happens to an opened bottle of wine:

Once you open a wine bottle, the alcohol starts oxidizing.
Typically, a small amount of oxygen interacting with the wine for a short amount of time can enhance the drink’s flavors and aromas. But, when the alcohol is exposed to oxygen for too long, it will turn the wine into vinegar.

Sometimes, even unopened wine (particularly aged, old wine) can oxidize when the bottle’s cork dries out.

The bottle cork prevents the oxidation process. But once air gets in an old wine bottle, you’ll end up having spoiled wine on your hands.

How Long Will an Open Wine Bottle Last?

Once opened, classic wine styles (like red wine, white wine, Rose wine, and Champagne) generally last for about 5 days in proper wine storage conditions. It should be sufficient to recork the wine bottle with the original cork, wine stopper, or plastic wrap and store it in the fridge.

But if you’re dealing with an opened bottle of fortified wine, you can store it in a cool dark place for longer (at least a month). That’s because fortified wine contains distilled alcohol (like brandy) which increases its shelf life.

Fun fact: Liqueur (like Kahlua and Bailey’s Irish Cream) and liquor (like whiskey and Scotch) are drinkable for about 1-2 years once opened.

The key is to store any old wine properly so that very little oxygen interacts with it — allowing it to stay fresh for longer. Plus, if the wine has more acidity and tannin levels, the oxidation process will be slower.

Here’s an idea of how long you can store wine based on its style:

How to Tell if You Have Bad Wine

When you’re ready to drink your opened wine bottle, pour a little into a glass to determine if it’s good to drink.

Look out for:

Color: Both white and red wines change color after a few days. Red wine becomes murky brown, while white wine develops a dark yellow or brown straw color.
Aroma: Give the wine a sniff to check if it smells weird. Bacteria can enter the open wine and turn it into an acetic acid that gives off a vinegar smell. If the wine is overly oxidized, it can smell like burnt marshmallows.
Flavor: After you’ve checked the wine’s color and aroma, taste it. Generally, a bad wine can taste flat, sharp, or vinegary. Opened red wine will taste super sweet, and white wine will taste like paint thinner or vinegar.

3 Things to Do With Old Opened Wine

If you have bad wine that’s well past the point of consumption, here are a few suggestions to repurpose it:

Make Vinegar
Prepare a Jelly
Use It as a Cooking Wine

1. Make Vinegar

You can turn your leftover wine into vinegar. Here’s the easiest way to do it:

Buy vinegar that has some vinegar mother (a biofilm used to ferment alcohol based liquids and make vinegar) in it already.
Grab a mason jar and mix three parts of the wine and one part vinegar.
Store the jar in a cool, dark place for one month.

2. Prepare a Jelly

If you have any leftover red wine, turn it into jelly. You can spread jelly over toast for breakfast or eat it on its own for dessert.

Here’s what you need:

2 cups leftover red wine
3.25 cups sugar
One packet pectin
Jars and lids (to store the jelly)
2 large pots

Directions:

Prep the canning jars:

Wash and put the jars in a pot filled with water.
Bring it to a boil and let it simmer for 5 more minutes to sterilize the jars.
Turn the heat down and leave the jars inside until you’re ready to fill them.

The wine mixture:

In a large pot, bring the old red wine and sugar to a boil.
Next, add the pectin and continue boiling for another minute.

Assembly:

Once the jelly mix is ready, take the jars out of the water and line them up.
Carefully pour the jelly mixture into the jars. You can use a funnel if it’s easier.
Clean the rims and then pop the lids on.
Leave the jars to cool and store them in the refrigerator. The jelly will keep for about 2 months.

3. Use It as a Cooking Wine

Another great way to use leftover wine is to use it for cooking.

What are the benefits?

Using it as a cooking wine will add loads of flavor to desserts and sauces.

Here’s how to use your old wine for cooking:

Pour the wine into an ice cube tray and freeze it — it’s a great form of wine preservation.
The next time you’re cooking, simply throw in a cube or two!

Let’s now explore how you should properly store your uncorked fine wine bottle.

How to Improve the Shelf Life of Your Unopened Wine Bottle

Follow these tips to ensure your unopened wine stays fresh for longer:

Store Your Bottle at Ideal Temperatures: The optimal storage temperature for wine is between 45°F-65°F (7°C-18°C). Anything higher than 70°F (21°C) will accelerate the aging process and alter the wine’s flavor and aroma. Meanwhile, temperatures below 45°F (7°C) can cause the cork to shrink — allowing air to enter the bottle and oxidize the wine.
Keep Your Wine in a Dark Place: Ultraviolet rays from the sun can accelerate the wine’s aging process. So, it’s always best to store your bottles in a cool dark place with ideal humidity levels (such as a windowless cellar, wine cooler, or wine refrigerator).
Store Your Wine Bottles Horizontally: Storing your wine bottle horizontally prevents the cork from drying. This combats early aging and infiltration caused by a dry cork.
Store Your Wines Away From Vibrations: Vibrations can cause the sediment in the wine to become suspended — giving the drink a cloudy appearance. This could decrease the wine’s acidity and affect its aromas. So, always ensure to store your bottles away from vibrations and loud noises.

But if you’re into investment wines, then storing those precious bottles at home isn’t a good idea.

These are meant to age for years or decades, so they’ll spoil if you don’t store them under climate-controlled conditions. Arranging for proper wine storage can be expensive, and you might not have enough space to accommodate larger collections.

What’s an easy way out, then?

Buy, Store, and Sell Investment-Grade Wine Bottles Through Vinovest

Vinovest is a leading wine investment platform that sources, manages, and grows a portfolio of investment-grade wines for you.

Your wines will be kept in bonded warehouses with full insurance coverage and 24/7 monitoring. The bottles will be stored in optimal conditions of humidity, temperature, air quality, light, and vibration.

Remember, all of these are time-intensive and costly if you were to do it on your own.

You can buy wines from anywhere in the world with just a few clicks on the Vinovest website.

The best part is:

You can sell your bottles at any time. Vinovest will also help deliver your wines to the buyer, or to you if you want to drink it!

But, once they’re in your hands, just make sure you follow our tips to improve their shelf life, and to check if they’ve gone bad a few days after they’re opened!

Make the Most Out of Old Opened Wine

Leftover wine may not taste as good as when you first opened the bottle, but it won’t harm you in any way.

Planning to host a party where you’ll likely have many open bottles by the end of the night?

Make sure you recork each wine after serving your guests.

Then, all you have to do is properly store the leftovers and enjoy them for a couple of days.

If you’d like to invest in some delicious fine wine bottles, visit Vinovest — a reputed wine investment company. Sign up on the platform to buy, store, and sell fine wines with ease.