I admit, I do the same thing - store it in the fridge for cooking. I rarely have an issue w/it turning on me within a few weeks. I also throw it in some ice cube trays for freezing, then pop the cubes into bags. It's saved me more than once when I had no wine on hand to cook with. You kinda forget about stuff in the freezer!

I'm glad this question came up. I had a Port wine that had been opened by my husband and he never finished it. I didn't want to pour it out but it had been sitting in the fridge for weeks. I wish I had known this before poured it out. I think I like the ice cube method. I can easily be dropped into soups, sauces or marinades.

Ice cubes are the way to go.

Also, mculp, port wine is fortified and thus lasts much longer. It will hold its flavor very well for at least a week, and depending on the type of port, up to a month. And if you store it in the fridge, it will be fine for cooking with for months.

I freeze mine in 1/2 cup increments and use it in cooking pretty much indefinitely. White for risottos, red for spaghetti sauce...

Wine novice here...

Wow- never knew you could freeze it! This may be a silly question, but does this freezing technique work for both reds and whites?

And how long does wine tend to stay "drinkable-good" once re-corked?

By the way, I tried the wine ice cube method suggested here based on a post you all did a while ago. The red wine wouldn't come out of the ice cube tray as it never completely froze because of the alcohol. When I tried to pop them out I just got a slushy mess all over my counter. Maybe the baggie method would work better....

But I keep wine around in the fridge for weeks to use for cooking!

I've kept wine in the fridge for a month or so and cooked with it with no discernible taste difference. Granted I don't drink wine (or alcohol in general) so my palate in that regard isn't ideal.

When I open a bottle of wine I'm not going to finish, I generally pour it into a bottle with a clamp top and place it back in the wine fridge. This generally keeps the wine drinkable for 3 to 5 days. Not very handy information for Cherie at this stage of the game, but good to know for next time. I would have never thought of freezing the wine; good idea.

As for the port, mculp, that should stay drinkable for quite a while. I keep a bottle of Grahm's 20 year tawny in my bar (enclosed & dark, generally around 68-70 degrees in my house), and I don't notice that the taste changes. It generally takes me anywhere from 2 to 4 months to drink the bottle. Well, I could drink it a lot faster, but that's not really in my budget :-)

I use one of the vacuum pumps and special corks to re-cork wines that I intend to drink.

For cooking, one can be a bit less strict: just keep it cool, tightly re-corked in the fridge and use within a month or so. If it starts to taste/smell like vineagar, though, I wiould re-think using it for cooking as it may be quite different from the intended flavor of the dish. (However, may work as an additive for salad dressing at that point!)

I would say rather than freezing your wine, particularly if you are planning on drinking it later, after you open it transfer it to a small, clean glass bottle (like an old 12 oz beer or something smaller for a lesser amount). If you fill it all the way to the top and then cap it with a bottle capper, it will keep for quite sometime. Make sure to leave as little air as possible in the bottle. You can store the "mini-bottles" in the fridge or out if you wish. Bottle cappers can easily be purchased at any homebrew supply shop for about 13 bucks along with some caps for a couple dollars more.

Oh and make sure to label them unless you want wine surprise. :-)

Love the ice cube idea! It's so annoying to have to go out and buy wine for a recipe. Though it is more fun to cook with wine when you get to drink what you don't use while you cook ;)

I also freeze in half-cup increments in little baggies. Never noticed any difference in cooking.

Like lotusmoss I've never had much luck with wine ice cubes. I usually just freeze it all together in a tupperware - it stays the consitency of a slushie, so I just spoon out however much I need.

Many wine shops sell stoppers that pump the air out of the bottle keeping the wine for a couple of weeks due to the lack of oxygen in the bottle. They're usually around $15 and very useful for those occasional wine drinkers. They use them in restaurants all the time. Ask your local wine specialist!

I've never frozen wine, but now I'll try; we have trouble getting through a bottle before it's too old.

I like to freeze liquids in muffin foils rather than ice cube trays: while freezing use a muffin pan to keep them flat and steady, then when it's harder remove from the pan, wrap the cups in sheet foil and slip into freezer bags. May work with care even if it's still a little slushy.

I heard you aren't supposed to put red wine in the fridge because it will "bruise" the flavor. I put white wine in the fridge. Port can usually stay out like a liquor, can't it?! I might be abusing my wine!

I think vacuum pumps are the way to go - they work really well and are inexpensive.
I haven't had much success with freezing wine - somehow it never tastes very good once it's thawed out and sometimes even "separates" a little bit, kind of like milk. Odd I know...
Another solution is making your own wine vinegar - you can buy a mother at several places online and add the wine...best of all if you keep adding wine the flavor will evolve constantly and be more and more interesting.

I make vinegar from leftover cooking wine. It's an easy way to make sure it gets used.

fortified wines such as port or vin santo can keep like a liquor on the shelf and won't go bad... don't chuck them just close them up and serve when you like. wines on the other hand... keep them in the fridge and cook with them! but i'll drink a 2-3 day old wine which is vacuum sealed

I also hate to waste leftover wine so I try to find ways to cook with it (beyond sauces). I love to poach fruit in wine, and I came up with a really good (and super easy) cake that uses leftover chardonnay (or other white wine): http://www.alwaysorderdessert.com/2009/08/chardonnay-cake-with-almond-sugar-crust.html

@MrsCatbird: good idea. I'll definitely do a Tupperware next time, so I can spoon out the slush....