Mike Evans
Mike Evans
Does anyone know whether there is a safe and effective way to clean wine bottles that have been exposed to water from a sewer backup? To give a little more detail, there was a sewer backup at my storage facility last week. Fortunately, the water never pooled, so only a relatively small portion of my wine is affected (though it is still probably 100 to 200 bottles), as only the boxes on the floor got wet and we were able to remove the boxes above them before the water wicked up to them. Bottles in wood cases fared better, as none of the top rows were even slightly damp. With a few bottles, the labels were soaked, and these were the only bottles where the water came even close to the capsules. Most of the bottles were only in contact with water on the sides at the widest point as the necks were elevated.
I was surprised that there was pretty much no odor from the water that spread through the facility, and I saw no signs of solid waste, but I didn't see the bathrooms from which the backup originated until after the remediation team got through stripping and cleaning them, and lack of odor is certainly not a reliable way to determine how pathogen-laden the water was. County records show that the backup was 1050 gallons, so it was not an insignificant event, but which may also suggest some degree of dilution.
At this point, the outside of all of the bottles that came into any contact at all with water have been thoroughly wiped down with Sporcidin disinfectant so they should be safe to handle and I've segregated them while I figure out what to do with them. I found some studies that suggest that wine kills E. coli (including the nasty O157:H7 strain), salmonella, and some other bacterial pathogens, but I haven't found any studies showing that wine can kill viral pathogens or the full range of bacterial pathogens to which the bottles may have been exposed. I haven't stripped the capsules yet, as I haven't been willing to spend the time doing until I have a clue whether there are any methods of sanitizing the lip and exposed cork that I can be confident will sanitize the exposed surfaces without damaging the cork or contents, though I'm not inclined to try to salvage any bottles that show signs of leakage, crumbly corks, or other reasons to question the effectiveness of the seal.
I've found a few items online (but a surprisingly small amount since this can't be that unusual an occurence), but none that would give me an acceptable level of comfort. For example, one article suggested bleach without any reference to risks of generating TCA, which did little to suggest credibility. Other sources didn't explain either the specifics or their reasoning in enough detail to persuade me to risk exposing myself or others to the types of pathogens that the bottles may have come into contact with.
If the wines were submerged or had more substantial contact with untreated sewage, then it would be easy to write them off. But since the contact was minimal, trying to find a sanitization method is worth investigating as an option to fighting with my insurance company, the storage facility, and the county over coverage, liability, and damages. Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?
I was surprised that there was pretty much no odor from the water that spread through the facility, and I saw no signs of solid waste, but I didn't see the bathrooms from which the backup originated until after the remediation team got through stripping and cleaning them, and lack of odor is certainly not a reliable way to determine how pathogen-laden the water was. County records show that the backup was 1050 gallons, so it was not an insignificant event, but which may also suggest some degree of dilution.
At this point, the outside of all of the bottles that came into any contact at all with water have been thoroughly wiped down with Sporcidin disinfectant so they should be safe to handle and I've segregated them while I figure out what to do with them. I found some studies that suggest that wine kills E. coli (including the nasty O157:H7 strain), salmonella, and some other bacterial pathogens, but I haven't found any studies showing that wine can kill viral pathogens or the full range of bacterial pathogens to which the bottles may have been exposed. I haven't stripped the capsules yet, as I haven't been willing to spend the time doing until I have a clue whether there are any methods of sanitizing the lip and exposed cork that I can be confident will sanitize the exposed surfaces without damaging the cork or contents, though I'm not inclined to try to salvage any bottles that show signs of leakage, crumbly corks, or other reasons to question the effectiveness of the seal.
I've found a few items online (but a surprisingly small amount since this can't be that unusual an occurence), but none that would give me an acceptable level of comfort. For example, one article suggested bleach without any reference to risks of generating TCA, which did little to suggest credibility. Other sources didn't explain either the specifics or their reasoning in enough detail to persuade me to risk exposing myself or others to the types of pathogens that the bottles may have come into contact with.
If the wines were submerged or had more substantial contact with untreated sewage, then it would be easy to write them off. But since the contact was minimal, trying to find a sanitization method is worth investigating as an option to fighting with my insurance company, the storage facility, and the county over coverage, liability, and damages. Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?