Will the wine, cognac, spirit and vodka turn bad?

Question

I have the following:

1. One unopen bottle of Martel VSOP kept in box standing vertically for 10years in cupboard.

2. One opened half filled bottle of Martel VSOP standing vertically on display shelf for 10 years.

3. Two bottles of Absolute vodka unopened standing vertically on display shelf for 1 year.

4. One bottle of Absolute vodka unopened standing vertically on display shelf for 5 years. There is some crystal found at bottle neck and the vol. seem slight lesser than those 1 year old one.

5. Two new bottles of red wine unopen (2006 Chateau Ros De Marchand Grand vin de Bordueax Montagne Saint-Emilion) kept in box standing vertically on display shelf.

6. One bottle of Jack Daniel unopened standing vertically on display shelf for 4 years.

7. One bottle of Chivas Regal unopened standing vertically on display shelf for 4 years.

8. One new bottle of Remy Martin unopened standing vertically on display shelf.

How keep them? vertical/horizontal? Will turn bad?

Answer 1

The hard alcohol should be completely fine, even if it has been opened.  The wine will be okay, as long as it's unopened (it will turn vinegar-ey if the air has gotten to it).  It's best to store them on their sides (there are a lot of wine racks you can find this way).

Answer 2

Hard liquor is impervious to spoilage but might go off if it's opened and oxidizes for a long time. You'll get a gel-film around the glass just over top of the liquid level. Even open I'd consider anything up to ten years as probably still OK. Sealed: Good for decades. So #1, #2, #6, #7 and #8 are perfectly fine. Distilleries store hard liquor in bottles standing up, although there is some risk to the cork drying out eventually and breaking when you try to open it. It won't bother the liquor though.

#4 make sure it's dried vodka and not glass, otherwise it's probably fine.

Wine should be on its side unless you're going to drink it shortly. It should also be out of light, vibration and changes in temperature. As long as it's unopened it will be ok, but there will be constant aging: which could be good or bad depending on the quality of the wine. So long as the cork doesn't fail (dry out) and there's no issues when it's bottled most wine will last 20 years in a bottle. You might get vinegar at the other end, though.

Answer 3

All of the hard liquors should be fine. It's possible something has gone bad with them, but they should still be safe to drink. Taste them and make sure they haven't changed into bad flavours. They probably have not and feel free to drink and serve.

The Absolut with the crystal seems weird. I don't know what that could be. I would taste it if I was feeling brave and keep it if it tasted right. If I wasn't feeling brave, I'd just get rid of it.

The wine should be fine by now. Bordeaux wines are usually blends and it's somewhat hard to guess how they'll last. Most wines are meant to be drank within a year or two after they are bottled. Many last longer and keep getting better under good conditions, but that would require the right wine and a long time in wine-cellar conditions. The will not go bad in a way that makes it unsafe to drink sitting in a bottle too long.

Keep all the liquor closed and standing upright. Try keeping the wine on its side. (Wine is stored on its side. It's very important that the wine stays well-closed, so the idea is that keeping the wine on its side will keep the core wet and expanded so it can keep the wine closed better.)

(And yes, as you ask, you could keep it upside down to do the same thing for which I recommended keeping it on its side.)

Better yet, open it up and enjoy! Don't wait for a special occasion—enjoying a bottle of wine is a special occasion, if you ask me.

Answer 4

For the wine, if you have PLASTIC corks, there's no need to keep the cork moist.

Also, if you're not going to drink the wine for awhile, liquor stores will sell small cannisters of nitrogen, which is inert.  It will blanket the wine, and keep it from oxidation.  Another, cheaper way to do this is to insert CLEAN glass marbles into the bottle, raising the wine level to the neck of the bottle, which also minimizes exposure to air/O2.  Just remember that when you POUR, the marbles may come out.  

Personally, I use nitrogen when I save a bottle (which isn't often!).  But to be effective, you have to stand the wine up, and that cork could go dry.  Again, I've never had a bottle hang around that long.

Answer 5

The wine yes, can go bad (oxidize, mostly).  The liquor should all be fine.