Cellaring question

[CassieV]

I've just stared keeping tabs on my parents basement/crawlspace under their house. It is underground but you have to stoop over in it a bit. So far the temps been staying at about 50 degrees & the humidity was about 60%. The outside temps being 32ish when I checked. I checked it today the temp was still 50 but the humidity dropped to about 40%. I still have to see how temps/humidity will be in the summer. I live in Tn & it can get pretty humid in the summer. My question is if the temp stays around 50 or so but my humidity fluctuates will it still be a suitable place to store my wine? Are there certain corks I could use that won't be bothered by whatever the humidity will be? My house is on a concrete slab so I really don't have a place to cellar it. I'm outsourcing so to speak. I really don't want
not having a basement of my own to stop me from making wine. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Wade E]

Those are favorable conditions there. I would use Georges perfect agglomerate corks myself, they offer the best of both worlds as far as corks go, they are a blend of natural and synthetic so they do breath to let your wine age unlike full synthetic corks but are also very less prone to mildew and cork taint due to the synthetic properties and they are also coated with paraffin wax so that they slip in and come out of the bottle easier. Its the only cork I use.

 

[CassieV]

That makes me feel much better. I've only done 1 batch so far, just bottled last month, & I used George's corks. I've ordered them for my 2nd batch as well. I've got alot of space to work with at my parents house. I'm relieved that as of right now the space looks like it's going to work.

 

[smokegrub]

I think you will be fine. I use an old hand dug cellar at the home where I was born for wine storage. The annual change in temperature is probably 10-15 degrees, however, the short-term changes in temperature are very small. I have had wine stored there for years and all of it is doing well, even bottles that are 4-5 years old.

 

[vscottcolorado]

My new wine storage area here in the summer months will be at 55-60. My problem is Humidity. Best case in the summer months with a thunderstorm we are at 35-40%. Just looked at my weather station, 20% in and 28% out. Should I be running a humidifier down there? And is a 5 degree swing in temp OK?

 

[ibglowin]

5 degrees is to die for perfect.

The humidity is about half what it should be for long term storage, Short term should be fine.

 

[vscottcolorado]

I have gotten away from the smaller kits and going to more of the premium kits for longer aging times. Should I be running a humidifier in there? Is there a better cork I should be using?

 

[ibglowin]

Which cork are you using?

I think the #9 (1.5") agglomerate corks that George sells are good for up to 3 years. If your going past that you may want to go with the real stuff or use the longer 1.75" agglomerate.

Your humidity is not all that bad. It should work fine for normal storage of 1-5 years. If you are wanting to store for 5-10 years then you should probably add some moisture.

 

[vscottcolorado]

It's a premium #9 x 1.75. But I was getting ready to buy some bulk corks from george

 

[ibglowin]

Real or agglomerate?

I have been buying the #9 x 1.75" agglomerate and am very happy with the quality and ease of insertion with my floor corker. I plan on drinking most of my stuff within 2 years but a few bottles could go out as far as 5 years for an aging study I want to do.

 

[vscottcolorado]

Real

 

[robie]

Scott,
Call George about the cork length. He told me about two weeks ago that the 1.75" could be overkill, unless the length of the neck on the bottle is long enough to fit tightly against more than 1.5" of the cork.

Give him a call and let him explain it. He also said he trusts his "perfect" corks to last a lot longer than 2 years.