How Long Does Wine Last After Opening?

Opened red wine keeps for 3 to 5 days with a stopper in a cool, dark place. White, rosé and sparkling wine keep for about 2 to 3 days sealed in the fridge.

How long does each type of opened wine last?

Opened wine lasts 2 to 5 days for most types and more than a week for sweet wine. Decanter gives the figures in this table.

Wine type	Keeps after opening	How to store it
Red	3 to 5 days	Stopper in, cool and dark
White and rosé	2 to 3 days	Fridge, resealed with the cork or screwcap
Sparkling	About as long as white, with some fizz	Fridge, with a tight Champagne stopper
Sweet	More than a week	Fridge

A single bottle can fade sooner. Your nose and your palate make the final call.

Why does opened wine go off?

Opened wine goes off because oxygen reaches it. Air dulls the aroma and the fruit. Heat and light speed the change.

Three habits slow it down. Close the bottle between pours. Keep the bottle away from sun, radiators and the cooker. Move it to the fridge. Cold slows the change for every wine type.

A half-full bottle holds more air than a full one. Pour what you will drink and reseal early.

Does opened red wine need the fridge?

No, a cool and dark place is enough for opened red wine. The fridge helps it keep a little longer.

Decanter advises leaving time for a chilled red to warm up again before you drink it. Take the bottle out a while before the meal. Some lighter reds are served cool anyway.

White, rosé and sparkling wine are different. They belong in the fridge once open. They can go straight from the fridge to the glass.

How can you tell opened wine has gone off?

You can tell opened wine has gone off by its smell, taste and colour. Decanter lists dull aromas, dull flavours, dull colour and vinegary notes as the signs.

• Smell: a sharp or vinegary smell means the wine has turned.
• Taste: flat or faded fruit means the wine has lost its freshness.
• Colour: a dull colour is a sign of too much air.
• Sparkling wine: no fizz means it has gone flat.

Pour away wine that smells of vinegar. Do not wait for the day count in the table.

How do you keep opened wine fresh?

You keep opened wine fresh by sealing it straight away and keeping it cold. The original cork or screwcap works if it still fits.

A purpose-made stopper is easier when the cork will not go back in. You push it into the neck and a silicone seal sits against the glass.

The horse head wine stopper is a decorative example. The supplier lists wine, champagne and olive oil bottles as suitable. It gives no preservation time and no pressure rating.

For sparkling wine, Decanter advises a Champagne stopper that hooks onto the lip of the bottle. Neither stopper in this guide is described that way.

What does a wine stopper do?

A wine stopper closes the neck of an opened bottle. It limits the new air that gets in. It does not remove the air already inside.

That is why the table above still applies with a stopper fitted. The stopper helps you reach the end of each range. A vacuum pump or an inert gas spray is a different tool. The stoppers here do neither.

Fit is the main thing to check. Bottle necks vary. The press type stopper listing says the fit on an unusual bottle is not guaranteed.

Press stopper or decorative stopper?

Choose a press stopper for everyday use and a decorative stopper for a bottle on display. Both close the bottle in the same way.

The press type wine stopper is straight and black. You push it into the neck. The table compares it with the horse head.

	Press type stopper	Horse head stopper
Price	£7.99	£17.99
Material	Food grade ABS and silicone	Zinc alloy and silicone
Size	About 7 x 4.5 x 3cm	10 x 3 x 2cm
Look	Plain black	Silver-tone horse head

How do you chill wine quickly?

You chill wine quickly with ice and water outside the bottle or a frozen rod inside it. A bucket of ice and cold water surrounds the whole bottle. A chiller stick works from within.

You freeze the stick and slide the rod into an opened bottle. The supplier says the wine chiller stick chills wine in 5 to 10 minutes and keeps it at drinking temperature for up to an hour. Results depend on the bottle and the room. The pourer on top aerates the wine as you pour.

Chiller stick detail	Supplier figure
Steel rod	19cm long, 1.6cm across
Suggested bottle height	At least 25.6cm
Care	Hand wash only

Check the bottle height before you buy. A short bottle may not take the full rod.

Which one to choose

Pick a stopper to seal, a chiller stick to cool and the opener for caps. The swordfish bottle opener is bronze zinc alloy and its listing does not describe a corkscrew.

You want to	Choose
Close a bottle cheaply every night	Press type wine stopper
Close a bottle with a display piece	Horse head wine stopper
Chill an opened bottle in minutes	Wine chiller stick
Open beer and soft drink caps	Swordfish bottle opener

Stoppers, chillers and openers all sit in Accessories.