Where in the wine world are we? Cellar edition

[Click through for image. The photographer originally set the rights generously but has now restricted them.]

Where in the wine world is this moldy cellar? Hit the comments with your thoughts!

20 Responses to “Where in the wine world are we? Cellar edition”


  1. The Mystery Cellar in Tokay.


  2. I’m pretty sure this is des moines.


  3. Isn’t that the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland?


  4. I get an ‘eastern europe’ vibe. Hungary? Tokaj

    If not, then how about Bulgaria or Romania?


  5. This really reminds me of some of the small wine cellars I saw in Burgundy. Though I’m sure there is some significance to the red banding around the barrels that I’m not aware of.


  6. That must be the private wine cellar under the White House.


  7. Tyler, I wish my wine cellar was half as nice as yours.


  8. Looks like the Old Beringer caves


  9. Moravia


  10. South Africa.


  11. I think the key clue is that the barrels appear to be painted or at least coated with something.

    The metal banding is obviously painted with red paint. Is this to protect it from rust? So maybe we are looking for a place that has lots of humidity and traditionally (or for whatever reasons, say economic rather than stylistic) re-uses barrels for many years.

    I’d speculate that the solvents from the paint can leech into the wine. So then, maybe (and whatever coats the staves is just general cellar grime. That also suggests the barrels are old and have been reused many, many times.

    Still: “Old coated and painted barrels” is this a key clue?


  12. Czecholovakia/Czech Republic = Moravia


  13. Great guesses! Arthur, such tenacity!

    The correct answer has already been mentioned but here’s one more visual clue for those who haven’t gotten it yet.

    http://www.drvino.com/img/mystery04251.jpg


  14. Looks like the private cellar of Vlad the Impaler from that last photo…..


  15. Amber colored wine in the background – Tokaj? – Hungary

    Must!….Find!…Out!…Where!…This!…Is!


  16. if not Tokaj, maybe Massandra?


  17. Arthur,

    You’re right! It is a Tokaj/Tokaji cellar in Hungary. Congrats to Tim Wood who nailed this one in the very first comment!

    Here’s the credit for the photo on Flickr:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/csaba_bajko/432872552/in/pool-tokaj

    But check out another from his photostream to see the way cool moldy bottles:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/olaszvandor/2337363572/in/pool-tokaj/

    Somehow I thought that would be too easy and opted for a picture of the traditional red-banded barrels instead with the key word “mold.”

    Mold, after all, is so key to this nobly rotten wine.


  18. Del Dotto??


  19. DEL DOTTO FOR SURE!!


  20. […] authenticity of one of the pictures. Consider this picture on the left, from their site. Compare to the photo that we pondered earlier on the right, which is a cellar in Hungary with the distinctive red banding on the barrels and the […]


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