Conditioning new barrel

[Maheesh]

Is it necessary to condition a new vadai barrel? and what of sterilization, that doesn't seem to be mentioned much...thx.

 

[stickman]

In general, new barrels require only hot water treatment to swell and seal the staves. Most of the barrel manufacturers have procedures posted on their sites; in your case, I would follow the procedure on the Vadai website.

http://www.vadaiwinebarrels.com/barrel-prep-instructions.html

Some older home winemaking books describe harsh treatments using sodium carbonate etc to strip some of the tannins from new barrels, but this is not recommended these days as you are paying good money for those tannins and it doesn't make sense to send them to the drain.

After the swelling and sealing procedure, the final treatment before filling with wine depends on the stage of production the wine is at. Nothing further is needed if the wine is still fermenting or needs to complete malolactic fermentation. If you are filling the barrel with wine that has just completed malolactic fermentation and has been sulfited, then a standard sulfite rinse of the barrel is typical.

 

[Maheesh]

Sulfite rinse

So the barrel is not sterile from toasting as some say and I should rinse with so2 solution and citric acid? At what concentration? Thx

 

[stickman]

There is no single way to make wine, you will always find different opinions etc. Rinsing with the so2 solution is just good practice when transferring wine that is complete and has been sulfited. In this case sanitizing isn't the biggest issue, though it doesn't hurt. The rinse residue helps maintain the sulfite concentration in the wine which always drops during a transfer. Other winemakers will not rinse, but will transfer the wine and wait a period of time, a few days to a few weeks, and then test sulfite levels and adjust accordingly. I don't use citric acid in any of the sulfite rinses that contact wine as additional citric usually results in higher VA over time. My rinse solution is about 14 grams per quart.