Can I use wine that has turned to vinegar? (2023)

Can you use wine that has turned to vinegar?

There's no fun in cooking with bad wine—it does nothing to help the flavor of your dish. As far as vinegar goes, once you get the hang of it, making vinegar from leftover wine can be a good way to use every last drop.

Fortunately, there is something you can do to correct the wine. Add potassium bicarbonate to the wine, also referred to as Acid Reducing Crystals. This works fairly well when you only need to adjust the total acidity (TA) just a little bit — say 10 or 20 basis points.

It's not harmful, but it won't taste good. Even on the rare chance that a wine has turned to vinegar, it would be unpleasant to drink, but not dangerous.

Any wine can turn to vinegar if oxygen gets inside the bottle and reacts with the alcohol. This happens when a cork is defective, of poor quality, or when wine is stored upright instead of on its side. The storage position is crucial because to keep out oxygen, a cork must remain wet.

Yes, you can drink oxidized wine. It's not dangerous to consume, it just has an unpleasant taste. Drinking oxidized wine is no different from consuming flat soda or stale bread. The chemical makeup has altered slightly, but there are no compounds added that would prevent you from being able to drink a glass.

The smell and/or taste of vinegar indicates that a wine has either been badly made or the bottle has been open for too long and has been attacked by a bacteria, called "Acetobacter". Acetobacter reacts with oxygen and this reaction changes the taste of a wine to a vinegary flavour.

What happens if wine is too acidic?

A wine with high acid will usually taste crisper and more tart on the palate. A low-acid wine will feel smoother and rounder on the palate. Acidity provides some of the backbone needed for long-term aging, so high acid wines are more likely to improve with time than those with lesser amounts.

Wine is a popular alcoholic beverage, but if a person does not store it correctly or drink it promptly, it may spoil. Once open, wine typically lasts for a few days. If it goes bad, it may alter in taste, smell, and consistency. In rare cases, spoiled wine can make a person sick.

You should begin to smell vinegar after a few weeks, and can taste it every week or so to monitor the fermentation. After about 2 months, when the alcohol has acidified, or when a taste of the vinegar makes your mouth pucker, it's ready to strain and bottle.

The Last Pour

Granted, the wine must be stored correctly — ideally in the refrigerator, in a sealed bottle, with minimum exposure to oxygen — but there's absolutely no harm in cooking with a slightly oxidized wine that is no longer fit for drinking.

Generally speaking, wine can't ferment for too long. The worse that can happen is a “miscommunication” between the sugar and the yeast due to either using the wrong type of yeast or fermenting under the wrong temperature. Even if this happens, you can still salvage most if not all wines.

Don't throw out that leftover wine! Use it in gravy, tomato sauce, salad dressing, or as a marinade for steak. You could also make sangria, slushies, syrup, or jelly.

But that's not the only thing a winemaker can do to prevent wine from turning to vinegar: Temperature management, oxygen exposure and sanitation are all key to preserving wine.

You should begin to smell vinegar after a few weeks, and can taste it every week or so to monitor the fermentation. After about 2 months, when the alcohol has acidified, or when a taste of the vinegar makes your mouth pucker, it's ready to strain and bottle.

The Last Pour

Granted, the wine must be stored correctly — ideally in the refrigerator, in a sealed bottle, with minimum exposure to oxygen — but there's absolutely no harm in cooking with a slightly oxidized wine that is no longer fit for drinking.

To transform alcohol into vinegar, oxygen and a bacteria of the genus Acetobacter must be present for the second step to take place, acetic fermentation. These bacteria are found in all organic produce that contains sugar, such as fruits and plant roots.

Can you cook with wine that has turned?

According to Bon Appétit, not only is it safe to use old wine for cooking, you can do so for quite a long period of time. In fact, assuming you continue to store the wine properly, red or white wines should remain safe to cook with for up to two months or more.