Other Barrel dilemma

[jsiddall]

I have read that an oak barrel may be the best thing you can get to improve kit wines, and that sounds like a good thing. But looking into it more reveals there are a number of considerations.

1. Barrel aging not only micro oxygenates the wine and concentrates it somewhat due to water evaporation, but also imparts oak flavor. I don't care for strong oak so what I am really looking for is the first two effects. Unfortunately these look impossible to acheve on a new oak barrel as the oak flavor may become excessive after just a few weeks of aging.

2. The barrel needs to remain topped up, much like a carboy. This is an issue if barrels aren't available in the correct size for kits (5-6 gal/19-23 L) -- and many are not.

3. The barrel needs to be constantly filled with wine or "burned" for longer term storage if left empty. Otherwise it will go moldy and be ruined. This is a bit of a problem for me as most of my kits are already in bottles, some now with less than 19 L total volume thus unable to fill the barrel even if I uncorked each batch. Also, due to limited space I am only planning on making two more red wines in the next year or so.

So what can be done about the above? Should I just forget about a barrel for now and rely on bottle aging? Any other suggestions?

 

[ibglowin]

Yes, a barrel is not right for you at this time. You need to have several kits lined up to rotate in and out and then be making a kit every few months to keep the barrel filled at all times. Vadai makes 20 and 23L barrels that are perfect for kits. Its pretty impossible to over oak using Hungarian Oak. The oak levels always fall back about 50% within 3-4 months and you end up rotating wines back through or adding some more oak to the carboy. A better schedule is the 4-8-16 week schedule for your first 3 wines then after that you can stick with what ever length of time works best for you taste and schedule wise.

 

[salcoco]

you can get some improvement by using oak cubes. available in french, american and Hungarian oak. it will provide the oak, but not the micro-oxygenation. taste testing periodically will prevent the overoaking problem. just put cubes is carboy.

 

[topcellar]

I've done the barrel aging thing and here is what I noticed - even with a brand new barrel.

Barrel aging will do a number of things - yes it helps oxygenate the wine, and some moisture will evaporate. Over time it will impart some oaky flavour. You can easily control how much oak flavour gets imparted to your wine by regularly trying a small sample, and then remove the wine when its right for you.

Having said that, the first thing you will notice is that your wine flavour becomes subdued. The small barrels will first make your wine flavour more balanced. Over time it will then take on some oak flavour. Even with a new barrel, I found that after one week in the barrel made the flavour more subdued. "A few weeks" might be right for some, but not for others. This is something you really need to experiment with to get the right aging time for you.


While aging wine, the barrel can be topped up with a similar wine. You could make 2 of the same kits even, barrel one, and bottle the other... use those bottles to top up. You will notice that as the wine evaporates some, it creates a vacuum in the barrel. You'll have a popping sound when you remove the stopper (food grade silicone stopper is recommended). I have even kept a little extra wine from the kit that did not fit in the barrel aside for this reason..

The barrel does need to remain constantly filled - but not necessarily with wine. You can make a solution of water, metabisulphate and citric acid to maintain a barrel. This too needs to be regularly changed.

Its a fair amount of upkeep to do barrel aging, and its not for everyone. I'd suggest that if someone is trying to get an oak flavour in their wine, try using oak staves (in addition to any cubes they might get from a kit).

 

[knockabout]

My wine improved tremendously when I got my barrel. I love love love it, however -I do wish I had done a chard in it before I went to my reds!