How long can you keep (and how to keep) wine before it's not drinkable?

Question

I have found a wine that I like a lot. It is not expensive, although not cheap either. I like it so much I would like to buy a case of it. I just need to know how long I can expect it to stay nice and how to store it. Thank you!

Answer 1

Contrary to Yahoo! Answers popular beliefe, most wines produced are meant to be drank with in a year or so after bottling and WILL NOT get better with aging.

Your best bet is to talk with someone at the winery that produces it (e-mail them) or with a person at a wine shop that sells the wine. Some "not expensive" wines will start to flatten out after a few years - no matter how you store them, so you certainly want to prevent that.

The majority of wines that are meant to age are $50+ (some are $40, but it's a rare few) and are red. Yes, some chardonnays will taste wonderful with aging, but I'd guess that 95% of white wines released to retail in the US should be drank right away.

In short, talk to a wine person about your specific wine. You'll get the best answer that way. : )

Answer 2

Wine storage times depend on the type of wine you have purchased. White wines typically are consumed relatively young as are blush/rose wines. Red wines can be stored for lifetimes if the wine holds up. Make sure your wine is not exposed to direct sunlight or excessive heat. If you can, try to find a place that holds a relative temperature around 65 and is slightly humid. If you really want a longer term storage solution and don't have a place that meets those requirements, I would recommend looking into a small wine storage cooler. They can be purchased for around $150-300 depending on size and features. Bottles should be canted(angled) toward the neck so the wine covers the cork which will prevent the cork from drying out and cracking. Do not store the wine upside down.

Assuming you've purchased a younger wine and you're interested in at least a case, try this little tip. If you've purchased a red wine, wait about 4-5 years and open a bottle. Open another bottle at 7 then 10 years and see how your wine is holding up. If you find at a point, the wine has passed it's aging potential(ie. turning to vinegar or excessive oxidation), it's time to drink. If you don't want to wait that long, then just shorten your time frames to 2,4,6 years.

Enjoy!

Answer 3

It all depends. There are wines that last longer than others. For example, a red light wine like a merlot will last only 2-3 years, a cabernet sauvignon can last for 8-10 yeras. Saint Emilion will last 15-20 years. That is in red wine. In white wine, it lasts much less. A white wine has a period of 6 months to a 1 1/2 years.
Also, the room temperature, the bottle's positin and light factors are quite important. The ideal ambience for it's conservation has to be dark, humid and the bottles barely touching the cork in a horizontal position. Salud!

Answer 4

How long you are able to save wine relies upon on the kind of wine, the grapes used, the winemaker, the 365 days and the situations wherein that's stored. good high quality bordeaux lasts the longest and good high quality high priced medoc can easily final 2 an prolonged time and proceed to advance. whether, all wine - no remember what it is existence time - will carry on with a trend of having better and then degrading. Chateauneuf du pape oftentimes lasts 5-8 years no remember if that's good high quality. 1999 replace into an ok yet not remarkable 365 days, so drink now. i'd propose the two letting it breath for 30 - 40 5 minutes or decanting heavily and eating after letting it breath for quarter-hour or so. With mature wine in case you permit it breath too long it is going to loose the complicated aromas it develops in the process the maturation technique. the bourgonge can final a similar lenght of time. yet is extra complicated. burgandy is a complicated part of wine makers and high quality can variety massivley with appellation and 365 days. V. good high quality burgandy wine can final 20 yrs too yet extra oftentimes it is in basic terms suitable high quality wine from good vintages. extra often than not 2001 replace into not a super burgandy 365 days and except it is from an extremely good domaine may well be previous its desirable. it is in all probability the case no remember if that's a user-friendly AOC Bourgogne. whether a Grand or better cru would be waiting to drink now in all probability, and the different burgandy appellation could be ok (eg Gevrey Chambertin, Morey st denis, aloxe corton, savigney les beaune, santenay and so on) whether it continues to be well worth placing out to be sure. except the wine has oxidised (seek for black traces of chlorification the size of the cork and a musty scent or an extremely loose installation cork) the wine could nonetheless be drinkable. wine which you maintain could be stored in cool situations around 10-12C and lay on its ingredient, not status up. If the wine replace into left status up all this time that's a threat the cork would have dried out and alter into loose wherein case oxidation would have occured and the wine grew to become bitter.

Answer 5

Wine, if properly stored, can be kept for years upon years. Some of the finest wines are from 40 or more years ago.

Store the wine in a cool, dark place on its side, not upright. If you really want to impress somebody that knows about wines then don't remove the dust on the bottle when serving. Believe or not, that's a sign of class.

Enjoy!

Answer 6

You should try caduceus wine it is the best! www.caduceus.org BUt I wouldnt know how to answer that question... I think your are looking for the hieght of taste date... Every wine has a certain date thatt is at its peak and your supposed to drink it within that date or something... I am not a wine expert...

Answer 7

mostly my father keep it for 4 to 5 years and he always say "delicious" when he tastes it. but my father had kept a wine for almost 8 years then he drink it just last week and all the family members that had tasted is said " this is perfect". so I think you really need to wait for 8 years.

Answer 8

will keep along time, store in cool place on it's side...can have it like that for years...good luck!