French oak wine barrel care

[Johncifelli]

It's been 3 years since I used my 40 gallon French oak wine barrel I rehydrated it what else needs to be done before I age my red wine in it

 

[DPCellars]

I'm afraid I am not much any help to your question, but I am gonna watch this like a hawk. I'm starting to get the itch to move up to a barrel.

 

[mainshipfred]

How have you been storing it and how does it smell? 3 years is a long time.

 

[Johncifelli]

How have you been storing it and how does it smell? 3 years is a long time.

It's been stored in my garage dry storage it smells like wine

 

[mainshipfred]

It's been stored in my garage dry storage it smells like wine

I would think if there are no off odors it's probably fine. Maybe do a heavy K-meta solution just to be safe.

 

[Johncifelli]

I would think if there are no off odors it's probably fine. Maybe do a heavy K-meta solution just to be safe.

Okay thank you should I bother burning sulfur?

 

[mainshipfred]

Okay thank you should I bother burning sulfur?

Wouldn't hurt but if I remember correctly the barrel should not have any residual water in it. It will form some kind of acid, perhaps sulfuric and I'm not sure what it does to the barrel.

 

[winemaker81]

Search for articles on barrel care. I find that reading numerous articles has given me a more complete picture. WineMakerMag has a free article on barrel care.

I suggest you rehydrate now and let it set full of water for at least a month. The initial hydration may consume a lot of water, and if you put wine in too quickly, it will be the wine that is consumed.

EDIT: fixed the link to the article.

Note: WineMakerMag has a lot of articles on barrel care, but most require a paid membership. The above article is free content.

 

[Ct Winemaker]

There is a lot to caring for and using barrels. You might want to google ”Morewine barrel care manual” for excellent advise for barrel usage.