BARRELS 101

Yesterday in Winery Practices, we learned everything we always wanted to know about barrels. The best part of class was the point at which our instructor said, "Let's take a 10-minute break, and because this is such a dry topic, I think I should open up a couple bottles of wine..." I only wish I had brought my camera so I could have captured the picture of everyone sitting at their desks, notebooks open, listening intently to Chris' lecture, with pens/wine glasses in hand! This class rocks!!

Actually, the topic of barrels wasn't "dry" at all - now I know all the parts of a barrel - the head, staves, bung hole, croze, chime, and the difference between head, quarter and bilge hoops. We saw a great video of barrels being made by "coopers" at Demptos Cooperage in Napa, CA. All wine barrels are made with oak and from the best wood in the world. 30 individual "staves" - narrow strips of wood placed side by side - are used for each barrel, and because they are all different widths, it's like putting a puzzle together. I was most surprised to see how the staves are "bent" - once in place, the open barrel is placed over fire, and with the addition of water to produce steam, the staves can be bent to curve; in addition, the inside of the barrel gets "toasted" which converts the sugars in the wood into desirable flavors (caramel, butterscotch, vanilla etc.) that the wine extracts during the aging process. This is really an art form and even with today's technology, barrels are mostly made by hand - "Master Coopers" must be able to make a barrel only with hand tools. French oak adds a stronger flavor than American oak, and French barrels cost upwards of $1,000 each (American oak barrels average about $300) which can be quite an expenditure, considering they only "last" 5-7 years. And even though barrels are impossible to sanitize as well as glass or stainless steel, cost more, and leak, they are still the preferred method for aging because THEY JUST MAKE THE WINE TASTE SO MUCH BETTER! But, with today's new methods and resources, many wineries who cannot afford oak barrels (or who just want to save money) turn to "oak alternatives" - chips, etc. - that are added to their stainless or other tanks while their wine is aging and which gives an oaky flavor. I guess you might have to have a sophisticated enough palate to detect something like that. In my view, it's "cheating" but oh well....

In addition to seeing how barrels are made, we also learned what "goes on" in the barrel (oxidation, concentration, extraction, clarification) as well as how barrels are sanitized (lots of hot water followed by 'gassing' with SO2), maintained, and repaired. We also got to "take apart" an old barrel and put it back together again, which was fun.