Preserving Open Bottles

How long will wine last once the bottle is open? There are many parameters that can be taken into consideration, but in most cases the answer is simple, not more than 3 or 4 days. As a rule of thumb, the more wine there is in the bottle, the longer it will last. If there is less than a couple of inches of wine in the bottle it won’t keep more than 12 to 24 hours. Once a bottle of wine is opened oxygen in the air starts a process that initially softens the flavors and opens up the wine. These are good things, but as this process continues over many hours and days the wine ultimately oxidizes and becomes undrinkable.


Removing air from the bottle is one way of getting the wine to last. There are a couple of methods available for removing air from an open wine bottle. One, a pump mechanism that doesn’t work that well, and the other a can of Nitrogen gas, that works pretty well. Cans of Nitrogen gas can usually be purchased at wine/liquor stores and are sold under various names. One of the originals is Private Preserve. The concept is simple, fill the bottle with Nitrogen that doen’t react with the wine, pushing out all of the air that does.

Refrigeration can also slow the chemical processes that cause wine to spoil. I find it works well enough, but if you do it with red wines you’ll need to remove them from the refrigerator 30 to 60 minutes prior to drinking. I don’t know about you, but I typically don’t plan an hour ahead when I want to finish a bottle of wine. If you choose to refrigerate your wine, be sure the bottle is well corked or the wine will smell and taste like your refrigerator.

Wine does not go bad all at once. It goes gradually over a period of days. When you taste the wine on the second day it won’t be completely spoiled but it will not be as pristine as it was the day before. At some point you will detect the spoilage in the nose and taste and that’s when to dispose of it. There is no mistaking the taste of wine spoiled by exposure to the air. The taste of burnt raisins is very distinctive.