I like to use a little red wine for sauces how long should one keep the opened bottle for?

Answer 1

I assume you mean once originally opened, and that you intend to reinsert the cork after you've used it.

If you are not a connoisseur of wine as I am not, mine has lasted for weeks in the Fridge.

Wine, popcorn and a good movie is my entertainment.

Anyway, make sure it is a bottle that you can/would normally drink.
This adds the best flavor to sauces -- AND -- reduces the time you will likely have the open bottle.

I used to use a device that would pump air out of the bottle and would not put it in the fridge -- until the handle broke.
I was going to replace it -- I looked, read the reviews. The consensus was that this doesn't do anything to extend its life at all.
In fact, they blind tasted experts and found no advantage of the various gimmicks over just re-corking and placing it in the Fridge.
Just let it come to room temperature if you prefer it that way -- I'm beginning to like a cool glass.

Enjoy the sauces, enjoy the wine. You've got time for each with your open bottle.

Answer 2

The answer to this question can be given in a short form and in a long form; first, the long form:

A bottle of wine should be stored on it's side in a cool, dark, controlled climate environment. The reason wine goes "off" is because of a very basic chemical reaction called oxidation. When you open a bottle of wine, the reason it is no good the next day is because you expose that wine to air, which contains oxygen, which causes the wine to oxidize. Even if it is not yet opened, there is a bit of oxygen inside the bottle already (that space between the cork and the wine, bottles are not filled all the way to the top, right?) and oxidation is occurring.
Oxidation is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, under controlled conditions, it is part of the aging and maturation process that can make a good wine great. Perhaps the most famous for aging, Bordeaux wines (wines made from a blend of primarily Cabernet Sauvingon and Merlot grapes, produced in the Bordeaux region of France) are sometimes aged for over 20 years. HOWEVER, oxidation can very easily be the enemy of wine if:
1) The wine is not meant for aging. Many FANTASTIC wines are meant to be enjoyed young, that is, drunk fairly soon after it is produced. This does not mean it is a poor quality wine, it just means that the winemaker wanted you to enjoy it sooner rather than later
2) The wine is not kept in a controlled environment. Heat and light both speed up the process of oxidation, so both are bad for the longevity of the wine. When a bottle of wine is stored on it's side rather than standing up, the cork is kept moist. When the wine bottle is stored standing up, the cork dries up, shrivels, and quite often lets in more air. This also drastically speeds up the oxidative process and is bad.

That is the long answer. Here is the short answer:

As heat (and changes in temperature) are particularly bad for wine longevity, the kitchen (it is the room in which the temperature is most affected by ovens and stoves and what have you) is a particularly bad place to store wine. If you don't own a wine cellar, do what my wife and I do, we put our "wines to store" in a back closet of the coolest room in our house. We also don't buy really expensive wines, because we know we are not truly storing them properly.

If the bottle of wine has been standing out in your kitchen for five years, I wouldn't drink it... it is probably closer to vinegar than wine, and would probably not be very enjoyable. But don't despair. You can always hold on to the unopened bottle as a keepsake. It is not the wine in it that holds value, it is the fact that it was given as a gift and is a wonderful reminder of your beautiful wedding day.

Source(s):
for a much more in depth explaination on wine faults and oxidation reactions in wine the wikipedia article on wine faults is excellent:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wine_spoila...

Answer 3

I asked that question (but not as it applies to cooking), and found (if I remember correctly on the Arbor Mist website) that an opened bottle should be used in a day or two. It did say, though, that older wine won't make anyone sick. It just loses flavor.

Answer 4

Do you mean, for the wine to "breathe?"
It's not necessary - open the bottle, and use in the sauce. For drinking, you can let the bottle breathe for a few minutes - if at all.

Answer 5

Use it in the dish and then drink the rest with dinner--that way you know it won't spoil b/c wine, especially red wine, spoils quickly.

Answer 6

it'll turn to vinegar in 5 days