Sometimes you are left with leftover wine after a pleasant evening. A shame to throw it away! But how long can you store an opened bottle of wine? As soon as you uncork a bottle, oxygen enters the wine. Over time, this makes the wine taste less good. This process happens faster in some wines than others. How long you can store wine depends on several factors. We give an indication for each type of wine.

Storing red wine

Nu het najaar aanbreekt, is het weer tijd om je Wijnpaal te vullen met rode wijn! Heerlijk voor bij het haardvuur. Maar een fles rode wijn drink je minder makkelijk leeg dan een frisse witte. Gelukkig is rode wijn wel iets langer houdbaar dan witte wijn. Sterker nog, sommige geopende rode wijnen gaan na een dag alleen maar lekkerder smaken. Hoe meer tannine – dus hoe zwaarder de wijn – hoe langer deze houdbaar is. Een stevige rode wijn kan je zo’n 3 dagen bewaren. Een lichte rode wijn is zo’n 2 dagen houdbaar. Bewaar een geopende rode wijn in de koelkast, dit vertraagt het oxidatieproces.

Preserving white wine

White wine is at its best when it has just been opened. Especially when it is a fresh, young wine without too much acidity. If you keep it opened, the blissful flavour quickly goes away. Especially when you only have a little bottom left. The more wine left in the bottle, the less oxygen can get to the wine, the better the flavour is preserved. In general, white wines keep for 1 to 2 days in the fridge. Wines with higher acidity, such as Riesling and Grüner Veltliner, keep longer: around 3 days. An opened bottle of rosé or sweet white wine can also be kept longer, these sometimes still taste good on the fifth day!

Saving bubbles

Of course, a bottle of Champagne is actually meant to be emptied in one go. Not only because a festive occasion calls for it, but also because that’s when the flavour and bubbles are at their best. Do you still want to keep your opened bottle of Champagne or Cava? Then use a vacuum cap and store the bottle horizontally in the fridge. Move the bottle as little as possible, otherwise the bubbles will come out even faster. A bottle of bubbles will keep for around 3 days in the fridge.

Store port

A glass of Port before bed can do wonders for your sleep. But a bottle of Port does not. Fortunately, Port keeps longer than ‘ordinary’ wine. This depends on a few things, though. Generally speaking:

Ordinary cork: Port with a ‘wine cork’ that you have to pull out with a corkscrew is a storage port. So you can keep these for longer.
Stopper cork: Port with a stopper cork (a short cork with a plastic cap) has a shorter shelf life.

Ruby Port is the most common Port, it keeps for 2 to 3 weeks. Tawny Port will keep for 3 to 4 weeks. Tawny Port with age indication can be kept longer. A Vintage Port – the most expensive Port – only keeps for a few days. Tip! Store Port with the original cork upright in the fridge.