The short answer
Usually a few days — but not by a fixed clock.
How long an open bottle stays good depends on its condition, air and storage, less on the date. Reseal it and keep it cool, red wine too. Before the next glass, check briefly: look, smell, take a small sip. If it tastes fresh, it is fine.
What you can do now
Four moves for the open bottle
No study needed. The bottle has stood since yesterday or for a week — with these steps you decide in a minute whether it goes to the glass, to the pan or down the drain.
Step by step
- Reseal it and keep it cool
Cork or screw cap back on, into the fridge — red wine too. Cold slows the ageing. To drink, let the red warm up a little again first.
- Do the three-senses test
Look, smell, take a small sip. Your senses judge more reliably than any table whether a wine still gives pleasure.
- Decant the rest into a small bottle
The less air sits above the wine, the longer it stays fresh. A small, brim-full and clean bottle extends a remainder by days — a time machine it is not.
- For cooking, only what is still good
A wine that still tastes good is a good cooking wine. A faulty one stays faulty even cooked — cooking is not a way to use up spoilt wine.
How to tell it is still good
- Colour clear and lively, not dull or brownish.
- The smell is fruity or spicy, not vinegary, musty or like old apple.
- The first small sip tastes fresh — then drink it without hesitation.
When it really has to go
- Visible mould on wine or cork.
- An unexpected hiss or pressure on opening.
- A clear off-smell of nail polish, solvent or rotten egg.
In these cases: do not drink it, and do not use it for cooking either.
When the short answer does not apply
Sparkling wine loses its fizz quickly and is usually flat by the next day — here hours count, not days. Very sweet or fortified wines such as port, by contrast, keep considerably longer, often weeks. And: “for cooking” rescues no wine that already smells faulty — what does not taste right in the glass, the pan will not improve.
This page helps with the enjoyment decision and is no substitute for medical judgement.
If you like
Read on and keep asking.
Why wine turns at all in contact with air is explained at length in the context article. And two questions that often come right after.
If you want to go deeper
What happens to an open bottleIn the end it is your own sip that decides, not the calendar.
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