Boxed wine

[Scarlett]

I have a box of white wine that should have been used by March 31st. Should I just throw it away or do you think, that since wine usually lasts a while, it will be okay to drink??!

[mfewell]

Scarlett, have seen posts of yours before, you seem sensible. Use by dates and best before dates just need a bit of commonsense. Meat 2 days over - ditch it. A box of wine, airtight,  3 months over - so what, did it suddenly go bad on 1st June ? I would open it, sniff it and if it smells ok which it probably will, drink it. If there were no bugs in it when it was bottled/cartonned then how has it been infected since ? Distinguish between 'use by' and ' best before'.  The best one here is - does vinegar go off ?!!

[Scarlett]

Thanks, I agree with you! But I am having a party and didn't want to poison my guests. If it was just me- who cares- tally ho!!!

[sunflower68]

Blimey scarlett, just thinking how I wish wine would ever go out of date in our house!  Happy drinkage; sure as mfewell says it will be fine.

[Ding-Dong]

I did a booze run to France last June (as in June 2004) and the wine boxes I bought had a use by date of November 2004 - we finished the last one last month, over six months past its date, and it was absolutely fine.

[Pinotage]

If it smells OK and tastes OK, then it is OK.

[Pinotage]

I pushed thebuttom before finishing ...

Unlike many food which can taste Ok and yet be harmfull after sell by date, wine is sterile and won't do you harm. The reason for the sell by date is that few wines are made to age, and will start to lose their freshness, flavour etc. Also the bung on the wine box may let in air and the wine will gradually oxidise, i.e. turn darker colour and start to taste like sherry. Won't harm you, but won't taste as it should.

This if it tastes OK to you - drink it. It wont harm you.

[Scarlett]

It was only Leibfraumilch, I don't expect it to taste of anything but p**.

[Peri]

Lol Scarlett.  I think companies are legally obliged to put a best before date on products even homeopathic tablets which I have been told never go off.

[Clare A]

If it's Rougemont, cut out the middle man and throw it down the sink now!

[Alltorque]

Use By and Best Before dates are there to safeguard the retailers more than you, the consumer. They are generally very conservative and depend enormously on storage conditions. As others have said; "If it's looks OK and smells OK, it probably is OK. That's doubly true for wine, otherwise there would be no trade in the "great" wine vintages some of which go back to 1845 and beyond.