I have had a lot of problems recently with extremely dry corks. I live in
the desert (Las Vegas) and the humidity is extremely low. I have a
hygrometer in my cellar and it recently read 45%. What should I do about
this problem. Last night we had a 1996 Duhart Milon and the cork crumbled.
The wine was quite good, just the cork was terrible.

Fred.

On Sep 14, 5:58 pm, Fred > wrote:
> I have had a lot of problems recently with extremely dry corks. I live in
> the desert (Las Vegas) and the humidity is extremely low. I have a
> hygrometer in my cellar and it recently read 45%. What should I do about
> this problem. Last night we had a 1996 Duhart Milon and the cork crumbled.
> The wine was quite good, just the cork was terrible.

If your basement is not too large and if it is fairly well sealed,
then a large room cabinet humidifier should work They can be had from
Sears and other stores nearly everywhere, but they may be difficult to
find in the summer. A good one usually can be found that rolls on
casters and holds several gallons of water. The cost can be under to
slightly over $US 100. They come with humidity controls that hold
their setting fairly well. I would stay between about 60 % and 70% RH
for your situation. Too high RH, perhaps over 80 %, will cause mildrew
and mold growth that could damage your labels or other items in the
cellar, if that matters to you. Also it would require filling with
water much more often. If you are a do-it-yourself type, it should not
be too difficult to install and automatic water valve, such as toilets
have, to keep the water level full. But in that case you will also
need to install an overflow drain tube. Do not forget to use an
additive in the water that kills bacteria and that is sold where
humidifiers are sold. Some nasty beasts can grow in tanks of water
that stand for a long time, and they get blown in the room by the fan.
This can cause some people to cough. In rare cases a serious disease
can be spread.

I hope you have a deep cellar or use refrigeration in it so that the
temperature does not become excessive. I have heard about the
extremely high temperature you can have in Las Vegas in the summer -
especially this summer.

On Sep 14, 6:58 pm, Fred > wrote:
> I have had a lot of problems recently with extremely dry corks. I live in
> the desert (Las Vegas) and the humidity is extremely low. I have a
> hygrometer in my cellar and it recently read 45%. What should I do about
> this problem. Last night we had a 1996 Duhart Milon and the cork crumbled.
> The wine was quite good, just the cork was terrible.
>
> Fred.

Fred, you need 70% humidity and a constant temperature around 65F. You
can buy digital thermometers with humidity readings from IWA
(www.iwawine.com). Other problems with corks of older wines can be
the source of the wine. Be careful who you buy from.

Mark Slater

Tire wrote on Sat, 15 Sep 2007 05:19:35 -0000:

TB> On Sep 14, 6:58 pm, Fred > wrote:
??>> I have had a lot of problems recently with extremely dry
??>> corks. I live in the desert (Las Vegas) and the humidity
??>> is extremely low. I have a hygrometer in my cellar and it

Sorry Tire, this is really a reply to Fred!

A hygrometer would not do much good. It does not measure
humidity!


TB> Fred, you need 70% humidity and a constant temperature
TB> around 65F. You can buy digital thermometers with humidity
TB> readings from IWA (www.iwawine.com). Other problems with
TB> corks of older wines can be the source of the wine. Be
TB> careful who you buy from.


James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

>A hygrometer would not do much good. It does not measure
>humidity!

Eh? You are either just plain wrong, or are trying to make a subtle
point. If the latter, please enlighten us further

--
Steve Slatcher
http://pobox.com/~steve.slatcher

Steve wrote on Sat, 15 Sep 2007 14:29:11 +0100:


??>> A hygrometer would not do much good. It does not measure
??>> humidity!

SS> Eh? You are either just plain wrong, or are trying to make
SS> a subtle point. If the latter, please enlighten us further

Sorry, you are right and I am wrong. A hygrometer is any
instrument for measuring humidity in vapor. I must have posted
that before I really awoke :-) A hydrometer, what I was
thinking about, measures specific gravity.

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

On 2007-09-14 15:58:44 -0700, Fred > said:

> I have had a lot of problems recently with extremely dry corks. I live in
> the desert (Las Vegas) and the humidity is extremely low. I have a
> hygrometer in my cellar and it recently read 45%. What should I do about
> this problem. Last night we had a 1996 Duhart Milon and the cork crumbled.
> The wine was quite good, just the cork was terrible.
>
> Fred.

I grow orchids as well as drink wine, and I use a cheap cool room
humidifier in my greenhouse. I don't have a lot of trouble with
humidity in my cellar here in the Pacific Northwest, but the Hunter
room humidifier works well to keep the orchids at 60 % even when the
air is frozen outside and about 0% inside the house. I was trying to
grow vanilla and had the humidity at 85% for a while but the walls
turned black and the windows wept. It is also easy to set whatever
humidity level you want to maintain on these cheapies, but you do have
to keep an eye on the reservoir level.