What's your passive cellar reading?

WINE TALK
1

It’s almost 100 degrees out (98) by me. My cellar is reading 68. What about yours?

2

Just checked. 63 at the ceiling and 58 at the floor. Of course its only mid-90’s outside here.

3

67 degrees, but it has been 95+ all week, with it being 99 today.

4

passive scares me, you all are much braver than I am

5

57 - 59 degrees…

6

Long as you have some backup in case it fails and temps go to 75 (or you know that NEVER happens by experience), it’s not a big deal. IN fact, you’re at more risk with a purely active system at home since, if it fails, your wine is in a box in a hot room many times.

7

True, if I had a truly passive cellar, I would keep some sort of cooling unit on hand in case a heatwave bumped temps above 70. Above ground active scares me too, that’s why subterranean active is the only way to live. [drinkers.gif]

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8

59.5 F, 92% hum - of course we expect a high of 63 F here today. I love the northern coast of California.

9

We have a passive cellar in a converted sauna in our basement. Temps peak at 63-64 during the warmest part of the summer and bottom around 56-57 in the depths of winter. The only intervention required is that I add humidity during the winter. Can’t see how this system can “fail.” My boss uses a cooling unit in his cellar and when it fails, which they do with frightening regularity, then it becomes an emergency. I’d rather drink wines a little sooner than have that constant worry.

10

Yep, that’s ideal. But even 70 for a day or a few isn’t the end of the world since the combined thermal mass of the wine won’t track the air temps that fast. My wines vary from low 50s for 9 months of the year to high 50s/low 60s and only gt actively cooled if the temps outside will push the air temp above 70 for long stretchs. This year even the 75 degree days here heat up slowly so that it’s not really 75 for more than a handful of hours. For example, the high today is supposed to be 71. But it’s 58 out right now, at 9:30am.

11

Rick you lost me. What is the backup on a passive cellar? Couldn’t an active cellar have a backup as well?

I’m sort of with Tyler here. I would be concerned if it were 100 degrees out and my passive cellar started creeping to 70 degrees. In that sort of environmnet I would be inclined to invest in an active cellar. That being said I have an active cellar in Seattle in a below grade basement. 7 months of the year the cellar will rarely turn on. May- Sept the cellar turns on periodically and the temp fluctuates from 52-54 degrees.

Tom

12

Eh? I think you misread me. I said that as long as you have a backup to the passive cooling, there’s no issue with having it passive most of the time, i.e. you don’t need to obsess that the temps are moving up slightly and keep it at 55F. Nothing bad will happen if the wine sits at 62F for a couple of months. However, if you wanted safety, you can have something like an AC unit that is there for extreme situations but the cellar could be passive for most of its life.

EDIT: This might be a terminology confusion. To me, ‘active’ means a unit that endeavors to keep the wine within a narrow range of temps usually around 55F. Passive means that you allow some fluctuation. Passive does NOT mean uncontrolled and oblivious.

Yes, an active cellar could have a backup. Most, in my experience, do not. Wine cabinets don’t. Most wine rooms I’ve seen don’t. Some people DO keep an extra cooling unit around, but again, in most of the cellars I’ve seen there’s no backup to the active cooling. If the cellar is underground it’s probably protected decently (but again, if the passive cooling is enough that the active unit isn’t needed… ) However, if the wine cabinet/room quickly comes to ambient temps and those are 80F because it’s hot out and the cellar is just an insulated room in the house… you’re worse off than if the cellar was decently passive.

70F for months would be a concern. 70F for a few days or even a couple of weeks is not (depending on the temp on either side). People have this odd fetish about 55F as if it’s a magical number when many European cellars that have produced excellent wine out of their cellars over decades are passively cooled and routinely see temps fluctuate over the year from 50ish to 65ish.

I’m in Seattle too and this year my passively cooled room has hit 70 for 2 days. And not for the entire day - the morning and evening were much cooler. Right now it’s 61. I’m not worrying about that. If August brings temps in the 80s, I’ll actively cool it. This weekend is projected to be around 80 and the AC will get kicked on just in case.

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13

Timely post. I have an active ducted cellar but the Whisperkool unit itself is in the AC and can only handle 55 degree variations. So since it is over 100 in Texas now and for the forseeable futue (much hotter in the attic) - It is right around 60 all the time now. Any advice , other than don’t worry about it - your wine is safe - to keep temps down? I know it is safe as Rick mentions - but I like wine in the 50’s and am having to put in refreigerator after opening for 20-30 minutes to cool down.

14

65 - but I also have some fans I got from Costco on the ground to keep the air circulating…works very well…and it is and has been 100+ here for the last few days

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15

56 degrees this morning in my cellar in Seattle. The temp has not cracked 60 so far this year.
During hot spells it can creep up to 70. This summer has been good for wine storage, bad for outdoor recreation and meals on the deck.

P Hickner

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16

EDIT: Oh, you like serving it in the 50s… I can help with that. Get an ice bucket, toss some ice and cold water in. Put the bottle in. That will chill it MUCH faster so if you only need to drop the temp 5-8 degrees, it will be ready in a few minutes vs 20-30. If you like, toss a few on deck bottles in the fridge… they’ll be TOO cold coming out, but will warm quickly if the air temp is 80 or more.

17

The last Harry Potter book.



(sorry I could not help it)

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18

I have an active cellar, but it cannot keep up with the heat wave right now it is so bad. I have the temp set at 61 degrees, and it is barely holding there. The very highest part of my cellar is right about 70. Not much I can do until the weather cools down. This has never happened to me before, as I think this is the hottest my basement and cellar have ever been.

19

Post heat-wave (only upper 80’s today after 5 straight mid-90’s) and the cellar is still sitting at 64 degrees. That’s about as warm as it ever gets. I have active backup, but have never needed to use it.

20

Just checked. It’s HOT! here, not the hottest ever, but waaay abnormal. In the basement it’s 68.4 top rack, 61.0 floor, the thermometer is in the warmest spot. Highest I’ve ever hit was 69.4 top rack. This is in Harpswell, Maine. Typical winter temps are 51 top rack, 44 floor. Big annual swings, but I don’t worry about it, they happen slowly and reliably. The average long term storage temp for my cases on the floor is probably low 50s. Shocks hurt wine, I don’t worry about seasonal rhythms.

Dan Kravitz