Question about Humidity and Wine Cellars
 

Hi Everyone,

I am hoping to get some advice.

I have a small Vinotemp 32 Bottle Wine Cellar that I just purchased. I am
going to store some Bordeaux wines.

My question involves keeping the humidity at the desired level.

Currently, the humidity is at about 51% inside the Vinotemp Wine Cellar.
Ideally, I would like it at about 70%.

So the question is, how do impact the humidity level inside the Wine
Cellar?

I have tried using a soaked sponge in a bowl, but it has no impact on the
humidity.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

-Mike in SoCal

In article outdrinks.com>,
says...
>
>Hi Everyone,
>
>I am hoping to get some advice.
>
>I have a small Vinotemp 32 Bottle Wine Cellar that I just purchased. I am
>going to store some Bordeaux wines.
>
>My question involves keeping the humidity at the desired level.
>
>Currently, the humidity is at about 51% inside the Vinotemp Wine Cellar.
>Ideally, I would like it at about 70%.
>
>So the question is, how do impact the humidity level inside the Wine
>Cellar?
>
>I have tried using a soaked sponge in a bowl, but it has no impact on the
>humidity.
>
>Any suggestions are appreciated.
>
>-Mike in SoCal

Actually, the most often stated "desired" humidity, that I have seen, is
around 50-60% for wine. The lower end for the labels and the upper for the
corks. I try for the upper end, but then I'm also storing cigars, where 70% is
an ideal. To get to a balance, so as not to introduce mold on labels, I just
have a humidor for the cigars. However, in AZ, the instant that I bring the
stoogies out from their home, they dry out, and blow away in the breeze! :-{

As to bringing UP the humidity, it might well be that the cooling/conditioning
unit is actually trying to keep the humidity at ~50% and is working a bit
harder to remove what is programmed in as excess humidity. My Whisperkool
tries for 50%, but I added a small fountain and some splash rocks to nudge it
up a bit. When the cellar was new and settling in, I did as you have tried,
and placed a large sponge into a dish of water. I found that a towell, half in
and half out, did a much better job of raising the humidity.

I hope that others comment on the humidity issue, as all I have to go on is
some very general reading, and there only seem to be warnings about dry corks
if too low, and moldy labels if too high.

Hunt