How long do you wait before it goes bad?

[BigDaddy]

Hi there. My wife and I bought a few bottles of wine from Newport Vineyards in Rhode Island a year ago for our anniversary and they were great when we first had them. We saved some and brought them home and well we never got around to drinking them because she got pregnant (we had a beautiful little girl) so it took about a year for us to open them up. They had gone bad. My question is - is there a certain amount of shelf life time for each type of wine before it goes bad? We did get this wine right from the winery so maybe we should have asked, but I thought unopened wines (Red Wines) would keep for longer than a year. Thanks in advance. BD

[Bucko]

It depends on the storage conditions, wine type, and producer.

Poor storage, lesser red grape varieties and ho hum producers do not equal long agers.

[mrdutton]

Jersey Shore! Summer time gets high humidity but also gets high temps.

To store wine it needs to be kept around 52 F. or so with very little variation in temperature or humidity level. The wine should be laid on its side in order to keep the cork moist.

Then, as stated above, it needs to be from a quality producer from a decent fruit.

Lots of variables there, but it is the variables that make drinking various different wines so much fun.

Sorry your wine went bad on you. There are some decent producers in Long Island, NY and in Newport, Rhode Island. I'm willing to guess your red went to vinegar because you did not store it properly.

[This message has been edited by mrdutton (edited 11-02-2001).]

[Drew]

If you could describe how they tasted we might be able to determine the problem. Corked or cooked.

Drew