Getting the humidity "right" in your cellar

[Matt M]

I bought a 300 bottle wine cellar two years ago (from Wine Enthusiast, forget which brand). It's purely for storage and therefore doesn't have a temperature control, but it does a good job at keeping the temperature very stable, between 53-56 degrees.

However, it didn't come with a built-in humidity gauge, so I bought one to stand up in there. It first consistently read in the low 50s, so I placed a bowl of water inside in an attempt to raise the humidity. Now it reads in the high 50s, sometimes 60.

Comment / Question: Having the humidity this low isn't doing any real long-term damage to my ports....is it? Note: I'm cellaring mostly 2000 VP and intend to pass at least some down to kids, grandkids, etc. so I'm after "optimal" cellaring conditions....

Question: How else can I raise the humidity?

Many thanks. PS Roy -- as always, love the site, info and your assistance.

[Jason Brandt Lewis]

The humidity is FINE!

[J. Bradley Rauch]

if so how much is 2 much

[Frederick Blais]

Too much, some would say its never too much :)

Some bottles where kept under wather for over 20 years and tasted great once they recovered them from a sunken ship. Though we recommend keeping humidity between 60 and 80. Above that you might get problems with your label, as the moiture and bacteria attack them. Some report that unwanted bacterias could even get trough the cork and spoil your wine.

[J. Bradley Rauch]

thank you

[Andy Velebil]

Bradley,

70% humidity seems to be about the max most people go. Much more than that and mold starts to become a problem on the labels. This does not hurt the wine in any way...I (and so has Fred ) been into many cellars where bottles were covered in mold. The cork seals the bottle so the mold does not hurt the wine inside, but if there is a paper label then it will be eventually destroyed.

[Gizzyeq]

you can take a look at Roy's 2004 Port Forecast page 1 for what looks like very old port bottles with what looks like mold and cobwebs? hehe

[John Owlett]

The relative humidity in our underground cellar is between 80% and 85%. We have had some troubles in the past with label decay, so I have tried wrapping some of the bottles in cling film to protect the labels. (I'm not sure what cling film is called in North America.)

I haven't wrapped all the bottles ... sometimes as a control group for the experiment, and sometimes because I want to keep a case nailed up, to prevent my sampling it. I'll let you know how the experiment goes in twenty years' time.

Later,

Dr Owl

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John Owlett, Southampton, UK

[Frederick Blais]

One good tip to protect your labels is to put color protection spray. I don't know how it is called in English but it is the stuff you put on draying to make a thin layer of protection.

[Andy Velebil]

I've also wrapped some of my bottles with paper labels in saran-wrap (cling wrap). But those are the bottles that I want to cellar for 20-30 years, so I want to keep the labels in good condition. How I so wish more port producers, like Niepoort, would use painted on labels instead of paper labels.

[J. Bradley Rauch]

I'll try that with reagrd to the labels -r buy more port with painted labels. I too am recording relative humidity in the 80% + range with the door closed but not sure how to reduce it in a natural cellar -(ANY IDEAS) - I closed off any air flow to the space as I discovered as we get cold weather the temp drops in the cellar -- to a low of 46 F when it is 20 F outside -- unfortunatley I think the humidity will go up now that I've sealed the space. time will tell.

[John Owlett]

Bradley,

Before we bought our house, we asked a surveyor to inspect it. He warned us that the cellar was humid and unsuitable for most forms of household storage; and said that, if we wanted to use the cellar as living space, we would need to have it "tanked" (whatever that may mean) which was likely to be expensive.

I haven't investigated this further as the humidity does no harm to wine. My son made me a wooden rack for those wine bottles that are not in wooden cases, since cardboard cartons -- like labels -- decay in the damp.

Later,

Dr Owl

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John Owlett, Southampton, UK