mould on corks

Red Red Wine · Post by **Red Red Wine** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 10:42 pm

I just noticed on some of my bottles that there are mould growing on top of the corks.

The humidity seems to be too high in the cooler.

What should i do fellas?

Waiters Friend · Post by **Waiters Friend** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 12:17 am

Without knowing much about your cellar, it is hard to answer.

Having said that, too much humidity is better than too little (dries out the corks). If the cork can be cleaned off the bottle and the cork ( after removing the capsule), then you have a decent chance of still enjoying the wine.

However, the label may have eroded in the meantime.

My cellar (by accident, not design, and I've moved it once) rarely runs under 70% (and this is in the driest capital city in the world - Perth). Don't worry about too much humidity unless you can classify it as flooding :lol:

Cheers

Allan

dave vino · Post by **dave vino** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 7:37 am

Cooler could be switching off and condensation is occurring inside it, before it kicks back in again.

The wines may be leaking down the side of the corks (usually only isolated ones).

Red Bigot · Post by **Red Bigot** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 7:59 am

Red Red Wine wrote:I just noticed on some of my bottles that there are mould growing on top of the corks.

The humidity seems to be too high in the cooler.

What should i do fellas?

1. Get a hygrometer and stop guessing about the humidity.
2. Start worrying when it gets this bad:

Red Red Wine · Post by **Red Red Wine** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 11:39 pm

humidity is between 80-90 percent which is way too high. Some of the labels are crapping themselves already. At this rate i might have to buy a better fridge.

But hawt dam. ^^^^^ that is one mouldy cellar. Would you like a lot of mould with your wine sir?
:lol:

Mahmoud Ali · Post by **Mahmoud Ali** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 4:34 am

I don't think you have to much to worry about. I believe that a certain amount of mould under the capsule is quite normal in older bottles of wine. I generally wipe the top with a wet paper towel, remove the cork, and then give it another wipe before decanting. I've never found the wine to be damaged by the mould, or whatever it is that accumulates under the capsule.

Cheers...........Mahmoud.

PS: Red Bigot, loved the picture, too funny.

monghead · Post by **monghead** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 6:58 am

Nice pic RB.

I tried to do the same, and found a very similar picture on google images, but could not seem to attach it to the thread, so deleted the post (yeah, I am not very techonogical)...

How do I add images to these posts?

Thanx.

Monghead.

Eboracum · Post by **Eboracum** » Fri Jun 19, 2009 9:32 pm

In my (quite dry) cellar, mould under the capsule is usually the sign of a leaky cork. If it is combined with a lower than normal level of wine, then it has been leaking for some time. The wine may still be good but probably more forward than with a sound cork and proper level.

I would drink the leaky bottles first.

Cloudy · Post by **Cloudy** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 1:25 pm

Incredible that mouldy corks do not effect the wine, for me they always smell off and the wine is badly compromised. Ask Torb for his suggestions he is a legend.

Red Bigot · Post by **Red Bigot** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 2:49 pm

Cloudy wrote:Incredible that mouldy corks do not effect the wine, for me they always smell off and the wine is badly compromised. Ask Torb for his suggestions he is a legend.

There is a difference b/n mould on the outside of a bottle/cork and a "mouldy cork" which is another non-TCA form of cork taint. I've had plenty of bottles with a little mould on the top of a cork/capsule from slight leakage, but usually the rest of the cork is fine and the wine sound (if not oxidised). I've had mouldy-smelling corks from bottles that have never leaked and do not have external mould.

Red Bigot · Post by **Red Bigot** » Wed Jul 01, 2009 2:57 pm

monghead wrote:Nice pic RB.

I tried to do the same, and found a very similar picture on google images, but could not seem to attach it to the thread, so deleted the post (yeah, I am not very techonogical)...

How do I add images to these posts?

Thanx.

Monghead.

The pic is from the Seppelts drives under Great Western.
To add a picture/image it has to be addressable on the web somewhere, not on your local computer. There are many free sites to host images.
If you found the pic on a site via google, right-click on the picture and select the Properties option (some browsers let you copy the image url directly).
When editing a post here, click on the IMG button, then paste the image url, then click the Img button again to put the end tag in. Use preview to see that it looks OK.
To see the code, login and Quote my original post with the picture, it will show the code used.

Eurocentric · Post by **Eurocentric** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 11:53 pm

I wouldn't worry for a second about mould on the top of a cork. Most German winery cellars are full of corks that are growing a healthy garden on them -- the winemakers say the mould actually filters the air, keeping it from becoming musty.

A tiny wine leakage doesn't mean air is getting into your wine. And the drops could have been on the top of the cork or under the capsule all along.

OK, if you've got a bunch of bottles, drink the ones with mould on them first, but I wouldn't go sacrificing things in a panic.

monghead · Post by **monghead** » Sun Jul 05, 2009 9:29 am

Thanks RB. This was the image I found...

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