Sparkling
1 to 3 days
In the fridge, upright.
With an airtight sparkling wine stopper, which keeps some of the bubbles.
Storing wine
How long can an opened bottle keep, and is your cellar ready to welcome your wines? Two tools, and the trade’s guidelines.
General guidelines
An opened bottle: how long?
Choose the colour of the wine.
White
3 to 5 days
In the fridge.
Re-corked straight after serving. The emptier the bottle, the faster the wine oxidises: a smaller bottle helps.
Rosé
3 to 5 days
In the fridge.
Once re-corked, it gradually loses its fruit: best served within the first two or three days.
Red
3 to 5 days
In the fridge too.
Cold slows oxidation. Take the bottle out half an hour before serving so it returns to its temperature.
Five questions
Is your cellar ready?
The four enemies of wine
Heat, and above all its fluctuations, which age wine too quickly; light, which spoils it, even through a tinted bottle; dryness, which dries out cork stoppers; vibrations and strong smells. A cellar, a storeroom or a cool north-facing cupboard, away from the boiler and the kitchen, is often enough.
Why bottles are laid down
Lying down, the bottle keeps its cork in contact with the wine: it stays supple and airtight. A bottle closed with a screw cap can be kept upright.
An opened bottle
Once opened, wine meets the air and gradually oxidises. Cold slows this down: re-cork the bottle and keep it in the fridge, even a red, which you take out half an hour before serving. The less wine left in the bottle, the faster it oxidises.
Your questions
Frequently asked questions
How long does an opened bottle of wine keep?
Generally three to five days for a red, white or rosé, re-corked and kept in the fridge, and one to three days for sparkling wine closed with an airtight stopper. Taste before serving: an oxidised wine loses its fruit.
What is the right temperature for a wine cellar?
Between 10 and 15 °C, and above all stable: big swings between summer and winter do more harm than a slightly high but constant temperature.
Can wine be kept in a kitchen?
For a few weeks, away from the oven and the light, yes. For longer, the heat and its fluctuations would age it too quickly.
How long can a Fronton wine be kept?
Négrette reds are happily drunk young, for their fruit. Cuvées blended with Cabernet Franc and aged for longer keep better; each wine’s sheet, or the estate, can tell you more.
