The Auswine Forum

I was lucky enough to win a wine storage fridge through Vintage Cellars at OzWine last year - capacity 50+ bottles. Doesn't go close to being big enough but ok for some of it.

BUT, I notice that running at 12degrees and around 80% humidity, there is some mould forming on the bottles. This isn't a problem in itself, but its discoloured some of the lables.

On one of the bottles (1990 Chateau Reynella Cab Sauv) the capsule seemed to be corroded - I removed the capsule to check the cork - seems ok. Can anyone tell me a) is this normal? b) if not, how do I stop it? and c) will it damage the wine?

Duras.

Spend $10 on a small Dampsorb crystal de-humidifyer. Readily available at Bunnings. That'll do the trick - should reduce your 80% to around 60% (in my experience)

Well in my experience the main problem is that when you open the fridge door (particularly on hot, humid days), moisture condenses on the bottles. This happens because of the temperature difference between the cold bottles inside the fridge and the outside warm air. When the labels are constantly getting condensation on them from opening and closing the fridge door all the time, you're creating a perfect moist environment for mold.

Ways to prevent or reduce this condensation problem:
1. Don't open the fridge door too often, or for long periods.
2. Open the fridge door on cooler days (so the temp difference between inside and outside the fridge is less), or run your home air conditioning in that room to lower the room temp before opening the fridge.


hope this helps,
Bill

Thanks to Guest and Bill for the suggestions, but I think the humidity level is probably ok - required to preserve cork. Many cellars and other storage environments run at this level - maybe they all have mould?