Tool
How long will this keep?
What actually happens to an opened bottle, and how long you have — differentiated by style, because a Fino lasts days and a Madeira lasts months. Says which fortified wines are the exceptions and why.
How long it will keep
How long it will keep
Roughly 4–7 days
Reasonably confident — A sound general answer. Individual bottles and producers vary.
What to do
- Take it out 30–60 minutes before pouring, or stand the glass in your hand. Fridge-cold red tastes thin and hard.
- Replace the closure. An open bottle left uncovered goes noticeably faster.
Why
- ContextWine type. Full-bodied red. Tannin is consumed by oxygen ahead of the fruit, which buys time.
- HelpsStorage. Refrigerated. Both oxidation and microbial activity slow substantially at fridge temperature — the single most effective thing you can do.
- ContextPreservation. Replace the cork or cap. The baseline, and every figure in the table above assumes it. Doing nothing at all is meaningfully worse.
What happens as it goes
Tannins are phenolic antioxidants: they are consumed by oxygen preferentially, which buys the fruit time. A young, densely tannic red can genuinely improve on the second day, which is the same effect decanting produces more quickly.
What you will notice first. Not decline at first — many soften and open. The turn shows as a flat, slightly stewed, bruised-fruit character.
Mature reds are the exception within the exception. A wine that has already spent twenty years using up its antioxidant capacity has little left, and a bottle that was lovely on opening can be gone by the next evening.
Assumptions and limits
This assumes
- The closure has been replaced and the bottle is upright.
- The wine was sound when it was opened.
- Refrigerated at normal domestic fridge temperature, around 4°C.
Where it stops being reliable
- “Lasts” is not a safety threshold. An oxidised wine is unpleasant, not harmful, and where it stops being enjoyable is a matter of taste — some people like the second day of a young tannic red better than the first.
- These are bands within which most people notice meaningful decline, not measurements. Individual bottles vary, and so do individual palates.
Related tools
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Storage conditions check
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Every style, grouped by temperature band, with ranges derived from each wine’s own taste profile — and a practical way to hit them without a thermometer.
My wine smells odd — is it corked?
What is wrong with my wine?
Describe what you notice and get a ranked diagnosis, with the reassuring answers flagged first when they apply.