I am not new to wine, but I am new to collecting as of purchasing a Eurocave a few months ago. As such, I do not have extensive first hand experience with label preservation over time.
I bought a bottle of 2018 DRC Richebourg from a major Los Angeles wine store and I have no reason to suspect anything is amiss, but I was surprised to find the edge of the label wrinkling after only one week of storage. The average temp/humidity in my fridge is 54F/64%, although I do live in a humid environment and condensation forms on the bottles immediately when the door is opened.
None of my other wines are doing this, and I recall seeing an article some time ago of Eric Rousseau talking about upgrading their glue to frustrate counterfeiters which inspired this post as one might think if anyone is going to use robust labeling it is DRC.
Does everything seem above board here? Am I just unlucky as far as this label and environment goes or is this something I need to worry about? I’m not a speculator and intend to drink this so I’m worried less about the label and more about the wine.
Thank you all for your time and expertise,
Brandon
Maybe try and turn the temp up a couple degrees to 56-57 or so, and/or cool the ambient temp of the room using A/C. As I am sure your know, it is the differential between the cooler, less humid air in your unit v. the warmer and more humid air in the room (or garage?) that causes the condensation. But NBD unless you are planning to sell later on.
I think that’s a little unusual; I store my higher end wines in a pretty high humidity environment (~52-53F, 70-80% humidity) and haven’t had an issue with DRC labels. I’ve had some issues with labels but it’s mostly been champagne. A week also seems like a short time.
I’ve seen that with a couple bottles of PYCM in my fridge. Two bottles had labels that not only wrinkled right away but also developed mold/mildew. In the 3+ years those two bottles have been in there, it hasn’t happened to any other bottles (of PYCM or any other producer).
Thanks to each of you for your replies. I’m glad no one has responded with a “classic DRC fake! New DRC labels don’t do that etc etc etc.” But of course the thread is young…
A pristine label would be nice but I don’t think I’ll force it. I’ll look further into the accuracy of my humidity readings and mitigate if needed. All that’s important to me is the authenticity and stability of the juice inside. The bottle was not bought at auction but rather from a forum-trusted shop so I didn’t have any reasons for doubt prior to this. Thanks again.
I would hypothesize that the fact that you get actual condensation on the glass as part of your specific storage circumstances is leading to the wrinkling at the edge. My storage conditions do not result in that condition so I cannot give you a confirmation but can say that I’ve never had a DRC label of that age wrinkle in that way. I’ve also never intentionally tried to soak a DRC label off of a bottle so can’t speak to whether the glue is soluble in water or if the label paper absorbs water readily.
Were I in your situation, I’d not lose any sleep on this. Watch the tasting notes and pull the trigger when it sounds like it is showing well. I hope it meets or exceeds expectations.
I have seen some producers ship their wines with plastic wrap around the labels. Seems like a great way to preserve the label. For most labels, who cares? I can see the concern of a pristine label for anything with DRC on its label.
If you have the Eurocave manual take a careful look at the recommended storage layout. On mine the bottles are supposed to be pulled forward about 1 inch from the back of the fridge. I had condensation problems when the bottles were pushed all the way against the back and the problem was fixed when I rearranged them.
