Welcome to Advice for Impatient Foodies, R29's new cooking column. Each week, our executive food editor and Impatient Foodie founder, Elettra Wiedemann, will tackle any and all questions you might have about food. Seriously, no query is too big or too small. Don't be embarrassed! We've all had moments in the kitchen when we had no idea WTF was going on and wished we could ask someone other than Google for some pointers. So, whether you need help frying an egg, knowing when your chicken is done, or deciding what to make for dinner, we've got your back.
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I have a bad habit of letting open wine sit in my fridge or on my counter without being able to throw it away — you never know when you might need it for cooking or sipping! How long until wine really goes bad?
I totally do this, too! Recently, I left a fantastic (and somewhat pricey) bottle of red on my counter, thinking I'd use the rest of it for drinking or cooking. I left for a trip/totally forgot about the wine and came back to what was essentially a bottle of unusable vinegar (and wasted money). Curses!
So, here's the deal: As a general rule, anything with sparkles will last one to three days after opening. Reds, rosés, and whites can survive up to five days. Whites and rosés should be stored in the fridge with a cork or wine stopper; reds in a cool, dark place with a cork or wine stopper.
Here's another idea: Take the remaining wine and freeze it in an ice-cube tray! That way, the wine won't go bad and you can pop out a wine cube when you're cooking or throw some wine cubes in with your white or rosé to keep it cold. Is that super genius or what?! Red-wine ice cubes would also be great to keep homemade sangria nice and cold, without watering it down.
Or, if you want to be super on-trend, you can also turn your leftover wine into wine slushies. Cheers!