How Long Can You Keep Unopened White Wine?

[darlenemt08]

How long can you keep an unopened bottle of white wine? I don't know anything about wine since I don't drink any alcohol. I just cook with it but it's every once-in-a-blue-moon. Whenever I do buy any alcohol, I try to buy the smallest & less expensive bottle I can get 'cause it ends up getting poured out after awhile after it's been opened. I'm reorganizing my kitchen shelves and came across these bottles and need to know what to do with them. Within the past 5 yrs., I bought a small 4-pk. bottles of white wine for cooking from Wal-Mart.

"Sutter Home Family Vineyards"
Chardonnay Califorina 2005
187ml bottles

I have 2 of these bottles left. Are they still good to use or do I need to open them and pour them out? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Darlene

[Andy M.]

White wines don't age well. Your's is going on 5 years old and is probably well past it's prime. As it was not expensive, I'd toss it.

Buy a small bottle of dry white vermouth and use that for cooking. Vermouth is a fortified wine with some herbs added for flavor. It's fortified with added alcohol so it lasts practically forever. You can buy a small bottle - about 12 ounces - and use it as needed. It's not necessary to refrigerate it.

[GB]

I would not just pour them out just yet. There is a chance they are still fine. I would take Andys suggestion and get some vermouth, but next time you need a little wine open one of the bottles and take a taste. If it tastes OK then use it. If not then you can dump it and use the vermouth.

[gage]

make pancakes , mix wine into Orange juice and enjoy ,it will be fine.

[ella/TO]

get some sherry and also some marsala.....they're both bottles that'll keep once opened

[roadfix]

We have several dozen bottles of cheap red and white wine from the 90's. We only use them for props on the wine racks.
I've opened some of these bottles looking for anything drinkable during times I've run out of good wine but they were all no good. Corks would fall apart and nasty tasting.

[Andy M.]

If the corks were falling apart, that suggests air got into the bottle and spoiled the wine. Many reds improve with age, getting smoother/mellower. 15-20 year-old red wins are not near the limit of how long you can age a wine.

[Bigjim68]

5 years old on a wine is not particularly old, even Sutter Home whites, and I would suspect that the wines would still be fine, particularly for cooking.

[roadfix]

Originally Posted by Andy M.

If the corks were falling apart, that suggests air got into the bottle and spoiled the wine. Many reds improve with age, getting smoother/mellower. 15-20 year-old red wins are not near the limit of how long you can age a wine.

Even very cheap wines? We're talking $2 bottles of wine we've kept over the years and most all bottles were laid on their sides.