June 28, 2002

The Importance of Barrels

Janice Fuhrman's article, Over a barrel: The art of making the containers for aging wine is expanding from France to Napa, Sonoma in SFGate explains the current trends in barrel making. Many consumers are unaware of the importance of barrel selection in making wine.
She reports:

High-quality grapes may be the key component to making fine wine, but prime oak barrels are another critical ingredient...
"Barrels are a significant component in winemaking. Many of wine's textural elements and spice flavors derive from barrel aging," says Kevin Hall, winemaker at Alexander Valley Vineyards in Healdsburg.

Just as different grape growing regions have unique qualities and characteristics, so does the oak for barrels. Each forest has a different climate, soil, and density that determines the grain density which in turns creates diverse flavors and aromas. Most coopers use oaks from forests in: France, USA, Hungary, Slovenia, and Russia. Fuhrman explains where the oaks comes from:
The main oak sources for wine barrels are areas of central France and the United States with colder climates than California. California oak trees are too gnarly, old and sponge-like to be made into barrels.

Oak trees in Minnesota, Ohio, Iowa and Pennsylvania produce a tighter grain in the wood, according to a spokesman for Seguin Moreau.


Oak barrels soften wine and enrich flavors and aromas. The difference between storing wine in barrel versus glass or stainless steel is significant. With my 1999 Eno- Pinot Noir: Iund home wine, I put some in a neutral barrel and then some in a glass carboy. The difference was incredible: the barreled wine produced a smoother, rounder wine with hints of vanilla and spice and the wine in glass was flat, spritzy, and unresolved.

For the 2002 Harvest, I am planning to use 9 barrels:


    Process for Barrel Making
  1. The coopers start their work after wooden staves -- the planks that form the barrel sides -- have been air-dried for up to three years. During that period, natural sugars in the wood change to seal pores and become watertight. The staves are milled into convex shapes with angled sides for a tight fit, making adhesives unnecessary.
    The cooper fits together the staves inside metal rings, then pre-toasts the wood by watering the barrels and placing them over a fire for about 10 minutes.

  2. The barrel is tied with a cable to bend it into shape.

  3. The barrel is then toasted on the inside for 30 to 50 minutes over an oak fire to a customer's specifications: There are "light," "medium," "medium- plus" and "heavy" toast levels. The time period, heat of the fire and other factors often vary with the cooper's style, says Philippe Michel, vice president for sales and marketing at the Santa Rosa office of Tonnellerie Radoux, which has been operating in northern France since 1947...

  4. The "heads" of the barrel, or top and bottom pieces, are installed, a bunghole is drilled and then burned to cauterize it. Then they fill the barrels with hot water and apply pressure to test for leaks.

  5. The barrels are "prettied up". Marks in the wood are removed, shiny metal hoops are attached, the cooperage's label is applied and other markings the winery requests, such as the type of oak or the harvest year, are made on the barrel.

  6. Then the cooperage wraps them and stores them in a humidity-controlled environment until they are shipped to wineries.

Posted by Sasha on June 28, 2002 12:04 PM