Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

Does red wine vinegar go bad? The Manual investigates

How long should you hang on to this zingy pantry staple? Find out here

By
Vinegar caddy
Hans/Pixabay

An absolute staple in the pantry of any home cook, red wine vinegar is an ingredient of endless possibilities. In addition to many household uses like killing weeds and getting rid of pesky fruit flies, red wine vinegar adds a magic zing to just about any dish. It’s made by fermenting red wine with a starter culture and acidic bacteria until it sours. During the fermentation process, the alcohol in red wine converts into acetic acid, which is the main component of vinegar.

We realize souring bacteria doesn’t exactly sound appetizing, but before turning up your nose at this process, you should know that many of the delicious foods we enjoy regularly have gone through this exact process — yogurt, sourdough bread, miso, and perhaps most importantly, beer! And this is just the smallest list of examples.

Salad on a wooden table
Daria-Yakovleva/Pixabay

Health benefits of red wine vinegar

In addition to being delicious, you might be surprised to learn that the amount of health benefits from fermented foods is staggering. Compounds known as biologically active peptides, which are produced by the bacteria responsible for fermentation, have been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity, according to the Heart Foundation.

Recommended Videos

So maybe pick up a bottle or two of red wine vinegar the next time you’re at the store. And a 12-pack of brewskies, obviously.

Red wine vinegar
Jules/Flickr

Uses for red wine vinegar

The list of culinary uses for red wine vinegar is immense. This zippy ingredient gives an acidic brightness to everything from deviled eggs to fish and chips. Splash it on a salad with some olive oil for a classically simple dressing. Drizzle a little on your roast beef sandwich for some added bite. Finish a sauce or a soup with a few drops for an extra acidic note that’ll give your dish a fine-dining touch.

Related

Red wine vinegar is also a wonderful ingredient in a marinade, as its high acidity content tenderizes meat beautifully. If you’re a fan of pickled foods, you can use red wine vinegar to make your own pickled treats, like beets or shallots. You can do quick pickling on the stove with just a few ingredients and about 30 minutes.

Shallots in a basket
AO9/Pixabay

Pickled Shallots recipe

This pickled shallots recipe comes from Culinary Hill, and these shallots are wonderful on sandwiches, burgers, and hot dogs. Toss some in a salad, or use them to top a baguette. You’ll never run out of uses for these briny beauties.

Ingredients

  •  4 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 2/3 cup of red wine vinegar
  • 4 tablespoons of granulated sugar
  • 1 pinch of salt (optional)

Method

  1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, bring vinegar, sugar, and salt to a simmer, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in shallots.
  2. Cover and cool completely for about 30 minutes.
  3. Store in brine in an airtight container for up to one week.
Wine barrel with vinegar
Rene1905/Pixabay

How long can you store red wine vinegar?

While refrigeration is unnecessary, red wine vinegar should be stored in a cool, dark place, like a cupboard or pantry, to preserve the quality of the product. Also, it should always be stored inside a glass container, as oxygen can seep in through plastic and other materials, compromising the integrity of the vinegar. Oxygen will expedite the vinegar’s aging, and should therefore be kept out as much as possible.

Opening your bottle only when in use, and keeping a tightly sealed lid in place will preserve the vinegar’s life significantly. If kept in these conditions, a bottle of red wine vinegar could last up to a few years. Now that’s one heck of a shelf life.

Vinegar bottles
Hans/Pixabay

Should you ever toss it out?

Because of its high acid content, pathogenic bacteria cannot survive in vinegar. Therefore, it can’t spoil. It can, however, lessen in quality over time. It may become cloudy or develop bits of floating solids. Not very appetizing. While these solids are harmless, they may be unpleasant to see and you can remove them by straining them out.

In a bottle that’s been in the pantry a bit too long, you may notice discoloration or changes to the vinegar’s smell, texture, and flavor. So while red wine vinegar won’t expire to the point where it will be harmful to consume, it’s probably best to spring for a new bottle if these signs start to appear.

Chicken and salad
Nathan Dumlao/Unsplash

Chicken in Red Wine Vinegar Sauce recipe

This French-style chicken is a beautifully savory, easy meal that tastes like it took all day to prepare. Serve it with lots of crusty bread to soak up all the incredible sauce. Here is a recipe from Family Style Food.

Ingredients

  • 6-8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
  • 1 tablespoon of kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 shallot, thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon of garlic, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup of dry white wine
  • 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons of tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon of fresh thyme, chopped
  • 2 small bay leaves
  • 1/4 cup of water or chicken broth
  • 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red chili flakes (optional)

Method

  1. Put the chicken thighs on a rimmed baking sheet or baking dish. Sprinkle the salt on both sides of the chicken. Refrigerate, skin side up and uncovered for up to 24 hours ahead.
  2. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
  3. Heat a large pan with at least 2-inch sides over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil to the pan, and when it shimmers, add the chicken, skin side down. Cook undisturbed for 10 minutes, watching that the pan doesn’t get too hot and adjusting the heat accordingly until the skin is a rich golden brown. Turn the chicken and cook the other side for 2 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate.
  4. Pour off all but about a teaspoon of the fat into the pan, and stir in the shallot and garlic. Cook for about 30 seconds and then pour in the white wine and vinegar, scraping the pan to remove the brown bits. Add the tomato paste, mustard, thyme, bay leaves, and broth. Bring to a simmer and then return the chicken to the pan, skin side up.
  5. Transfer the pan to the oven and roast for 25 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling and the chicken is cooked through.
  6. Sprinkle the chili over the chicken, if using it, and then remove the bay leaves. Serve warm with the pan juices spooned over.

Whether it’s the star of your culinary show or just a flirtatious accompaniment to whatever dish you’re preparing, red wine vinegar is a must-have for every home cook. We love it for its tangy boldness, for its versatility, and for its ability to stand the test of time … after too long neglected in the back of the pantry. So dust off that bottle — it’s probably still perfect, and liven up whatever you’ve got cooking with a splash or two.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Lindsay Parrill
Lindsay Parrill
Contributor
Lindsay is a graduate of California Culinary Academy, Le Cordon Bleu, San Francisco, from where she holds a degree in…
This is what wine tasted like in ancient Rome, and we have thoughts
Here's what Roman wine tasted like
Ancient Roman wine sign.

Wine and people go way back. The oldest evidence of the stuff goes back more than 8,000 years, in what is now the Republic of Georgia. Then came the Romans, who perhaps made and guzzled the most wine of any era or empire.

Research has revealed how these wines were made, but what did they taste like? Archeologists have cracked the code, as revealed via a new study published in Antiquity. The wine was most akin to the skin-fermented and slightly oxidized wines that are trending today -- aka, orange wines. According to the report, the wine boasted notes of bread, apples, and walnuts. Researchers even used curry as a means of describing the aromatics of these wines.
Why such a flavor?

Read more
The best kosher wine for your Passover celebration
Manischewitz isn't your only option anymore.
Passover spread

Living in the current wonderfully rich and diverse world of wine, it's hard to imagine when kosher wine was hard to come by and consisted mainly of Manischewitz - a syrupy, often cloyingly sweet wine made from American Concord grapes. We raise our glasses with you for those who love Manischewitz for its rich history, traditional significance, or nostalgic draw, for there is nothing more important than traditions that hold special meaning in our lives. But for the observant among us who are craving something a bit more complex or sophisticated in their glass, kosher wine options have opened up significantly in recent years. Winemakers all around the world are now creating certified kosher wines from an immense variety of grapes and in a wide range of styles, including sweet, semi-sweet, dry, and sparkling.

While observant Jews have certain food restrictions, including shellfish and pork, and during Passover, yeast-leavened bread, certified kosher wine doesn’t restrict the options and styles of wines available. Kosher wines classified as mevushal (cooked) wines have an extra step during production that - to some drinkers - lowers the quality of the wine. Thankfully, though, technology has helped to greatly improve the current available options.

Read more
Forget wine — Beer and cheese is an unbeatable combination
Put the corkscrew away and crack open a cold one
Beer and cheese

When one hears the term cheese pairings, wine is the beverage that most often comes to mind, we'd wager. Because, of course, it is. The pairing of wine and cheese is as classic a coupling as peanut butter and jelly, bacon and eggs, or chocolate and strawberries. They're meant to be together. But that certainly doesn't mean that wine is the only adult beverage that can dance an alluring tango alongside everyone's favorite dairy product. Beer, as humble as its reputation can be, is also a beautiful balance to cheese's immense offering of flavors. While some may think of beer as not being as multi-dimensional and varied in its palate-pleasing capabilities as wine, this is not the case - especially now that we live in a world with so many exquisite craft beers, stouts, and lagers.
Of course, another classic accompaniment to cheese is bread or crackers. Why might that be, one might ask. Is it because we're simply in need of a starchy vessel to usher the cheese into our mouths? The answer is actually a bit deeper than that. Starches like bread and crackers are made from the same yeasty ingredients as beer, so their pairing makes perfect culinary sense.
This isn't to say, though, that one can simply pick up a hunk of cheddar and crack open a Budweiser and expect culinary artistry. The science is a bit more nuanced than that, so we're here to help you find the best pairings for your favorite beers and cheeses.

How to pair beer and cheese

Read more