Recently here at Wine Racks America I received a very troubling email. It was from a gentleman who was writing to me in hopes that I would have a solution to his wine cellar mold problem. At first I felt very upset for the person in question. All of these images were running through my head of ruined wine and screaming infants. Why the screaming infants you ask? I don’t know. It’s just that when bad things happen infants scream!
Back to the problem; Mold and mildew in a wine cellar, how to solve it.
First let’s talk about how to AVOID it. A wine cellar that is properly sealed, insulated and ventilated should not allow for mold and mildew to grow. If it does then something is very wrong. A painstaking search must then be initiated to find where the excess moisture is coming from. Nine times out of ten the problem will be a leak in the vapor barrier or a water leak from a rusty pipe inside the wall.
After fixing the problem so it doesn’t happen again how does one clean up the moldy mess? The first thing that I would do is to remove my wine and store it, at least temporarily, in a cool place. Now there are a lot of ways to clean up mold in an ordinary basement but not all of these ways are safe in a wine cellar. Bleach vapors are rumored to damage the cork. Does anyone have any insight on this issue? Are there any professionals out there that have dealt with mold removal from wine cellars? If so please share your wisdom.
Drink Often,
Christian Hancock
Wine Cellar Specialist (Except when it comes to mold)
Wine Racks America
We use a product called Concrobium which is available (here at least) from Home Depot. This works very well at cleaning mold off bottles when a cellar has been damaged and does not harm the labels…i think it’s all natural ingredients.
Cheers,
Warren Porter
Iron Gate - Private Wine Management
Mr. Porter - Thank you for your informative comment! This is a major issue for many many collectors out there. This month’s Food and Wine Magazine estimates that within a few years the number of wine consumers in America will reach 148 million, up 66% from 15 years ago. You can bet that with so many new collectors on the market we will continue to see an uptick of people with these same questions about mold and mildew. Have a great day!
Hey Jeff O. I also know of something that you might find of interest. My bro works for a company Called JYMRSA. They have worked with wineries and wine collectors in the past in riding them of mold and mildew on their bottles. From my understanding their product not only gets rid of the mold, but it also stops it from returning in the future. Don’t quote me on this but I have their website if you would like to get a hold of them.
http://www.jymrsa.com