How long does Red wine last in the fridge once opened?
Turning the range into a date
Red wine keeps 1–3 days in the fridge once opened. Two clocks run on this item: one from the day it went into storage and one from the day the seal broke. Both are listed below, 2 rows in all.
- In the pantryUse by3 years to 5 years after the day you stored it
- Once opened · in the fridgeUse by1 day to 3 days after the day you opened it
What opening the package actually costs
Opening the package is the decision that settles this page. Sealed, the item holds 5 years in the pantry; once open it holds 3 days open in the fridge, the same food measured in days instead of years, a drop of 608 times. It stands 1 of 22 on its shelf, one step above Nutrition supplement drinks at 5 years.
Every storage figure the USDA publishes for this item
The USDA gives this item a pantry and a refrigerator figure and no freezer figure at all, the pattern behind 79 of the 466 foods in the data.
- In the pantry3 years to 5 years
- Once opened · in the fridge1 day to 3 days
What the USDA adds in words
The USDA attaches 1 handling note to this item, reproduced below word for word. It is not a storage time: it qualifies the figure above rather than replacing it. These are the source's own sentences, not ours, and they are the part of the FoodKeeper record that a table of durations cannot carry.
In the pantry. Dark, away from direct heat or sunlight.
Can you freeze red wine?
The USDA prints no freezer time for red wine. Frozen at 0 °F any food stays safe; whether it is still good after thawing is a matter of quality. Keep the fridge at 40 °F or below and the freezer at 0 °F.
How to tell if red wine has gone bad
Go by the date first: red wine keeps 1–3 days in the fridge once opened. Unexpected fizzing, cloudiness, floating strands or a sour smell mean it goes out. Once opened, keep it in the fridge at 40 °F or below. Keep the fridge at 40 °F or below and the freezer at 0 °F.
Sources: USDA FSIS: the danger zone USDA FSIS: freezing and food safety FDA: are you storing food safely FoodSafety.gov: the FoodKeeper app.
Is it still safe to eat, or just past its best?
The answer at the top of this page reads 1 day to 3 days in the fridge once opened. What decides that is the food and not the shelf the source files it on: Red wine is acid, dry, sweet, alcoholic or pure fat. Past it, whether it has gone bad is yours to judge by look and smell: this window rates quality, not the day it turns hazardous.
It is past the date. Now what?
Say the calculator above puts Red wine past its 1 day to 3 days in the fridge once opened window. Past that the calendar stops deciding and the food itself does. Fizzing that should not be there, cloudiness, floating strands or a sour smell mean it goes out whatever the date says.
The whole rule, including the cases the source does not cover, is set out under what to do when the date has passed.
Items that behave the same way
Every one of the 6 nearest items keeps the same or less, 18 months to 5 years against the 5 years of this item, which makes it the durable end of the cluster.
- Nutrition supplement drinkskeeps exactly as long
- Teakeeps 6–12 months in the pantry once openedbags · up to 36 months sealed in the pantry
- White winekeeps 1–3 days in the fridge once openedup to 2 years in the pantry
- Coffeekeeps 1 month in the fridge once openedcommercial ground, non-vacuum · up to 2 years sealed in the pantry
- Diet powder mixes and drink mixeskeeps 1–3 months in the pantry once openedup to 24 months sealed in the pantry
- Nectar, papaya, mango, guava, or guavabanakeeps 12–18 months sealed in the pantry
Where these numbers come from
Every storage time on this page is the USDA’s own published figure from the FoodKeeper data, one of the 9 it keeps per food, reproduced unchanged and never an estimate of ours. Where the USDA lists several kinds under one name, each kind keeps its own windows, and the page names the kind its answer is for. The dates and multipliers are ours, computed from those ranges.
Source: USDA FoodKeeper, retrieved 1 September 2026. Found a figure that does not match the source? Tell us on the contact page. How the site is built is on the method page.
USDA index terms: red, wine
KeepsUntil is an independent reference built on public USDA data. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the U.S. Department of Agriculture or the Food and Drug Administration. Whether a given window is a safety limit or a quality window is stated on the page that prints it.