Should I drink it or put it on my salad? Well, that depends on whether you are drinking that bottle you opened 3 weeks ago or yesterday! Of course only those of us with the finest of palates can tell the difference, right? Whatever, my friend Lara asked me this question the other day, or was it 3 weeks ago? In either case this information won't expire and will keep you from making that face you make when you drink milk after its gone bad.
Opening bottles, especially good bottles of wine can be frustrating if you don't enjoy an entire bottle in one sitting. The notion that a bottle of wine will go bad after a day is ridiculous. You do not need to finish a bottle of wine in one sitting when it has been opened. So how long is too long?
There are lots of variables regarding the wine type, method of production, age of bottle and on and on. There are all those considerations and exceptions but for 95% of the wine that most people drink, the answer is pretty simple:
3 days
You can keep wines up to 3 days after the bottle has been opened. Once a bottle of wine is opened, the oxygen in the air starts to open up the aroma of the wine and softens the flavors, mush like a fruit on its last stem. As this process (oxidation) continues over many hours and days, the wine is ultimately made untasty (a very scientific word). The trick is to use the wine before it becomes unpalatable.
You can (and usually should) refrigerate re corked bottles. You can buy stoppers and gadgets to create a slight vacuum in the bottle, I recommend the rabbit which was a gift from my good friend Robyn or something real simple like the vacuvin which runs about 12 bucks. I take it on the road with me when I travel, works great! You can even get systems that put a layer of inert gas in the bottle. All these items and efforts are aimed at slowing the oxidation that will eventually cause an untasty wine.
What makes the whole thing tricky is that the wine will not go immediately from good to bad. The wine will, at a point, begin to progressively develop tastes that are unpleasant. Just like milk that is going bad, each person has a different point at which they identify the beverage as having gone bad.
If you want to play it safe (and who doesn't with either milk or wine), then just use the 3 day rule. Re cork and refrigerate the bottle for up to three days. With red wines, pull the bottle from the refrigerator at least 1/2 hour before you want to use it so it will warm to a desirable serving temperature in the mid 60's F. With white wines or roses, just pull and pour when you need them.
Keeping opened wines beyond 3 days is like playing golf in a lightning storm. You may get through but you are tempting the fates. If you keep a table wine for more than 3 days, you will be serving a wine that has lost most of the characteristics that are prized. The aroma will start to change and much of the fresh fruit smells and tastes will subside.
Dessert wines like Sauternes, most everyday Ports and most Sherries can last much longer but those are special cases. Just play it safe with the 3 day rule. It is a good practice to write the date the bottle was opened on the label if there is a chance of confusion
-a
