qvevri

[sholomy]

http://mag.newsweek.com/2011/10/23/winemakers-go-wild-for-qvevri.html
[ame]http://vimeo.com/24656225[/ame]
interesting video above showing the installation of some huge qvevris
any thoughts on qvevri? im curious how they they clean the qvevri between uses

 

[JohnT]

My thoughts are this... Just because it is old, does not mean that it is the best way to go.

Cleaning should not be much of a problem since the inside is coated with beeswax. The down side is that I would think that the wine will take on a beeswax flavor.. yuk.

The other concern about qvevri is that I do not believe that they would work in my area of the country. If you plan to age the wine for a year or so, you would need to burry them at least 3 feet deep otherwise the wine would freeze up in winter. In Georgia (the country/not the state) the climate is much more mild (as with Italy and Virginia) so one would not need to bury them so deep.

I just think that they will end up being a LOT of trouble and very little reward. I do think that it would be an interesting idea to explore though.

 

[sholomy]

but how would u clean such a huge vessel?

 

[JohnT]

Invert the vessel and shoot water up into it. You could also simply pump water into it and then pump it out to give a simple rinse.

 

[sholomy]

these things are huge youd have to dig it up and invert it, how would you do that?

 

[sholomy]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY0HEjBJAuM[/ame]
heres a video of a winery in georgia. seems once the qvevri is buried its never removed from the ground. the larger qvevri are easier to clean since one could just climb in but the smaller qvevri are cleaned with brushes and other instruments.