How long does an opened bottle keep?

Three to five days for a red or dry white re-corked and kept cold, one to two days for a sparkling wine even with a proper stopper, and several weeks for a fortified wine such as port or Madeira. Cold slows oxidation in every case, reds included: take it out an hour before serving.

Should red wine go in the fridge after opening?

Yes. Oxidation is a chemical reaction, and it slows as temperature drops. An opened red kept at 6 °C lasts about twice as long as one at room temperature. Just let it come back up before serving.

Does a bottle stored upright keep less well?

Only if it is sealed with natural cork, and only over time: the cork dries, shrinks and lets air through. A few weeks upright is harmless. Screwcaps and synthetic stoppers are unaffected.

What is the right serving temperature?

Around 8 °C for a dry white or sparkling wine, 10 to 12 °C for a white for ageing or a light red, 14 to 16 °C for a structured red. The traditional room temperature means the 16 °C of an unheated house, not the 21 °C of a modern living room.

Is a wine that has frozen ruined?

Not necessarily. Freezing pushes the cork out and can spill a little wine, but if the cork held and the level has not moved, the wine is often drinkable. Let it warm slowly and taste it: crystals at the bottom are tartaric acid and have no effect on flavour.

Does decanting remove cork taint?

No. The compound responsible, TCA, does not evaporate perceptibly. Decanting may very slightly soften a faint fault, but a clearly corked bottle stays corked. It is a fault of the closure, not the wine, and it is not harmful.

Should every wine be decanted?

No. Decanting serves two distinct purposes: separating an old wine from its sediment, and aerating a young closed wine. A fragile old wine can instead fade within minutes in contact with air: decant it just before serving, or not at all.

Can wine be stored in a garage?

It depends entirely on the temperature swing. A below-ground garage that stays between 10 and 16 °C all year is perfectly good. A metal garage going from 2 °C in January to 35 °C in August is the worst place in the house — worse than a heated but stable cupboard.

Do white wines keep less well than reds?

That is a myth. Whites lack tannin, but it is acidity that carries ageing, and fine whites have more of it than most reds. A riesling or a Loire chenin can outlast a medium-structured red.

How long does a wine need to recover from transport?

One to two weeks of rest is enough in most cases, longer for an old wine or a long journey. The effect — called bottle shock — is real but modest: the wine is temporarily closed and disjointed, not permanently faulty.

← All guides

Wine storage: frequently asked questions

Published September 13, 2026 · 1 min read

Short, checkable answers to the questions that come up most often about keeping, storing and serving wine.

The questions below come up more often than any others. The answers are deliberately short, and they take account of something easily forgotten: most storage rules were written for unheated houses, whose cellars naturally sat around 12 °C all year.

In a modern home that context has gone. Which is why "how long does this wine keep" has no absolute answer: it depends first on where you keep it, and only then on what it is.

If you are after orders of magnitude by style rather than individual answers, the guide on how long wine keeps collects them. To understand what a drinking window is and how to estimate one, see when to drink your wine.

Frequently asked questions

How long does an opened bottle keep?: Three to five days for a red or dry white re-corked and kept cold, one to two days for a sparkling wine even with a proper stopper, and several weeks for a fortified wine such as port or Madeira. Cold slows oxidation in every case, reds included: take it out an hour before serving.
Should red wine go in the fridge after opening?: Yes. Oxidation is a chemical reaction, and it slows as temperature drops. An opened red kept at 6 °C lasts about twice as long as one at room temperature. Just let it come back up before serving.
Does a bottle stored upright keep less well?: Only if it is sealed with natural cork, and only over time: the cork dries, shrinks and lets air through. A few weeks upright is harmless. Screwcaps and synthetic stoppers are unaffected.
What is the right serving temperature?: Around 8 °C for a dry white or sparkling wine, 10 to 12 °C for a white for ageing or a light red, 14 to 16 °C for a structured red. The traditional room temperature means the 16 °C of an unheated house, not the 21 °C of a modern living room.
Is a wine that has frozen ruined?: Not necessarily. Freezing pushes the cork out and can spill a little wine, but if the cork held and the level has not moved, the wine is often drinkable. Let it warm slowly and taste it: crystals at the bottom are tartaric acid and have no effect on flavour.
Does decanting remove cork taint?: No. The compound responsible, TCA, does not evaporate perceptibly. Decanting may very slightly soften a faint fault, but a clearly corked bottle stays corked. It is a fault of the closure, not the wine, and it is not harmful.
Should every wine be decanted?: No. Decanting serves two distinct purposes: separating an old wine from its sediment, and aerating a young closed wine. A fragile old wine can instead fade within minutes in contact with air: decant it just before serving, or not at all.
Can wine be stored in a garage?: It depends entirely on the temperature swing. A below-ground garage that stays between 10 and 16 °C all year is perfectly good. A metal garage going from 2 °C in January to 35 °C in August is the worst place in the house — worse than a heated but stable cupboard.
Do white wines keep less well than reds?: That is a myth. Whites lack tannin, but it is acidity that carries ageing, and fine whites have more of it than most reds. A riesling or a Loire chenin can outlast a medium-structured red.
How long does a wine need to recover from transport?: One to two weeks of rest is enough in most cases, longer for an old wine or a long journey. The effect — called bottle shock — is real but modest: the wine is temporarily closed and disjointed, not permanently faulty.