mold on corks in cellar?

Ok, after calming down from my initial worrying, I thought I'd elicit some opinions about the mold that I've just discovered in my wine cellar. I have about 125 bottles in an upright wine cabinet/refrigerator (whatever it's called), and i just noticed that a number of my bottles have begun to grow a white (with green in some spots) mold on them. Even the bottles with a foil enclosure have mold underneath on the corks. The mold is limited to the tops of the corks and is not on any of the bottles themselves. Should I worry...will this ruin the wine? How do I remove it, assuming I should?

Any insight from anyone with more knowledge than me is greatly appreciated.

Ok, after calming down from my initial worrying, I thought I'd elicit some opinions about the mold that I've just discovered in my wine cellar. I have about 125 bottles in an upright wine cabinet/refrigerator (whatever it's called), and i just noticed that a number of my bottles have begun to grow a white (with green in some spots) mold on them. Even the bottles with a foil enclosure have mold underneath on the corks. The mold is limited to the tops of the corks and is not on any of the bottles themselves. Should I worry...will this ruin the wine? How do I remove it, assuming I should?

Any insight from anyone with more knowledge than me is greatly appreciated.

Sounds like excess humidity. What is the humidity level in your fridge..try to keep it between 50-70% you should be fine. That aside, I don't think it is a problem unless you ever want to flip the bottles.

Wm.

Very common (in fact expected), on very old wines. As I understand it, not a concern unless the seal on the cork has failed to the point that wine is being exchanged to the surface and back - in which case, the mold is probably the least of your problems. Rogov should have some great info/insight on this.

Excess humidity is the likely culprit. Wipe 'em off and don't worry about it.

Thanks for the reassurance. I was worried that I might have ruined them, so it's good to hear it's not a major problem.

Don't worry about it. You should see the state of some of the winegrowers' cellars in France. There's mold growing there that could star in its own grade-B horror movie.

-Paul W.