# Hygrometer?



## dinolan (Apr 3, 2011)

Can anyone recommend a good, reliable hygrometer? We opened our last two bottles of valpolicella that were just two years old, and they were oxidised. Not undrinkable, but you could tell it was definitely on its way. They were sealed with aglom. corks, which were supposedly guaranteed for three years. My cellar here in CT stays in the 60's year round, not much temp. swing,and the old hygrometer I have down there says its about 55% humidity. I thought these were pretty good conditions. The guy at the LHBS where I got the corks says it was due to changing humidity, but his opinion wasn't based on anything factual, just kind of a off the cuff remark. I know humidity is likely to drop during the colder winter months, but when I checked the hygro at various times, it was always 50-60 %. I had picked up a couple bags of these corks a short time ago to bottle a sav. blanc and a valpolicella ripassa. I did bottle the sav., but won't chance the valp. with these corks so I retuned them and am gonna get some quality real cork corks. I wanna replace the hygro to be sure of the real % humidity. Thanks.


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## Wade E (Apr 3, 2011)

55% is to low actually. That will dry out the corks. Humidity should be around 70% - 75%. I have my water holding tank in my room and this brings it into perfect conditions for me most of the years except in the dead of summer when I have to use a dehumidifier in there as it does get a little warmer in there then and the tank and whole house filter start to sweat which can really bring the humidity up. Below is a link for Hygrometers.
http://www.nextag.com/hygrometer/products-html


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## dinolan (Apr 3, 2011)

Thanks Wade. Guess I gotta up the humidity down there.


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## Wade E (Apr 3, 2011)

What corks are you using? I use the Pefect agllomerate and have some bottles that really shouldnt be any good at this point that still are. What i mean about that is a I have a few bottles of Mist kit wine that I didnt even up the abv on and they are still bright and taste decent which shocks me. I get mine here. http://www.finevinewines.com/p-395-2320b.aspx


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## dinolan (Apr 3, 2011)

I'm not sure of the brand. I picked them up at the shop East of Hartford.


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## Wade E (Apr 3, 2011)

Do you test S02 levels? If not this could also and even more likely be the problem!


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## dinolan (Apr 3, 2011)

I didn't test on this one. It was a kit, so I added the recommended dose of stuff before bottling. But you could see on the corks where the vino had migrated up towards the top. The corks were 9x1.75".


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## Wade E (Apr 3, 2011)

If the wine migrated like that then those corks were of poor quality!


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## dinolan (Apr 3, 2011)

Wade E said:


> If the wine migrated like that then those corks were of poor quality!


Yup, I sure found that out. I'm looking at all the cork threads here to figure out which to use so my val. ripassa will last for at least 4 or 5 years.


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## Wade E (Apr 3, 2011)

Ive been using The FineVineWines Perfect Agglomerate for about 6 years now and wouldnt change a thing. Ive heard the Bidisk are even better but Im satisfied with what I am using and like I said its worked well with even few mist kits that should be dead by now! 
http://www.finevinewines.com/p-395-2320b.aspx
I


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## dinolan (Apr 3, 2011)

Thanks. Those are on the list of possibles.


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## roblloyd (Apr 3, 2011)

dinolan said:


> I'm not sure of the brand. I picked them up at the shop East of Hartford.



Are you a CT person? If so stand up and be counted, we need more CT people on here to balance out the PA'ers. Which shop did you go to the one in East Hartford on Pitkin St or the one near Golfer's Warehouse & CT Lighting?

I don't really like the one near CT Lighting. The one on Pitkin Beer & Wine Hobby is a great shop. Prices are good and they will spend lots of time answering questions. Corks I got there looked good.

I was looking at this one. Not sure how the price compares to others as I just started looking into them.


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## dinolan (Apr 4, 2011)

Hey Rob, yea, I'm in, in beatiful Meriden. I got the corks at the shop on Pitkin St. I'm not real impressed with the shop in Htfd. either. About the only thing I get there are BetterBottles. There's also M&M on Resevoir Rd., but they seem to be a little pricier on stuff. A great place to get info, though. I think I saw in another post you have the place in Wells, right? We have a place in Poultney. Maybe we can do a Connecticuters Tasting in VT some time and put them PA'ers to shame. Or at least drink vino.


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## Runningwolf (Apr 4, 2011)

dinolan said:


> Maybe we can do a Connecticuters Tasting in VT some time and put them PA'ers to shame. Or at least drink vino.



Once you get the parties/tastings going they are a lot of fun. It's nice to have folks within a couple hours drive that you can network with for volumn buys and partying. Steve all ready kicked off this year with a party and we pretty much have something planned monthly even if its just meeting for lunch.


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## dinolan (Apr 4, 2011)

The "good" thing about being in CT is that everything is within an hour of everything else.


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## roblloyd (Apr 4, 2011)

I don't have a place anywhere else. Must have been someone else on here.

I'm up for a get together. We could even have it at my house if that's convenient for people.

The one on Pitkin St is moving right near the other place. They should put it to shame when they do.


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## robie (Apr 4, 2011)

Wade E said:


> Ive been using The FineVineWines Perfect Agglomerate for about 6 years now and wouldnt change a thing. Ive heard the Bidisk are even better but Im satisfied with what I am using and like I said its worked well with even few mist kits that should be dead by now!
> http://www.finevinewines.com/p-395-2320b.aspx
> I



I agree with Wade on George's corks.


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## dinolan (Apr 4, 2011)

Sorry Rob, don't know where that came from. Thanks Robie, Finevinewines is looking good, corkwise.


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## djrockinsteve (Apr 4, 2011)

dinolan said:


> Maybe we can do a Connecticuters Tasting in VT some time and put them PA'ers to shame. Or at least drink vino.



Heck have the party and we just might show up. ROAD TRIP EVERYBODY!


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## roblloyd (Apr 4, 2011)

Come on up!


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## djrockinsteve (Apr 4, 2011)

Are ya on the map!?


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## roblloyd (Apr 4, 2011)

I think I did that on here a while ago. I am 1.5 hrs from NYC and Boston and 30min from the commandant.


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## dinolan (Apr 4, 2011)

How do ya get on the map?


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## roblloyd (Apr 4, 2011)

dinolan said:


> How do ya get on the map?



Yes I'm on it. Not hard to find there's only a couple members on there from CT. 1 in RI! Looks like a road trip to Long Island wineries! Never heard anything good about them though. 

Here's the link


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## djrockinsteve (Apr 4, 2011)

dinolan said:


> How do ya get on the map?



$50.00

NO, go to the home page. Scroll down to the thread "map"

The link is 

http://www.michaelsouellette.com/apps/winemakingtalk/index.php

. You need not be specific if you do not want to.


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## dinolan (Apr 4, 2011)

Wow, $50.00-I woulda paid twice that!


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## roblloyd (Apr 4, 2011)

dinolan said:


> Wow, $50.00-I woulda paid twice that!



I'd pay $100 just for the education I get here!


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