Oak barrels were not the winemaking standard for centuries just because they look pretty. Early winemakers found that oak barrels were particularly well suited for flavoring and rounding/concentrating. As modern winemakers contemplate and embrace stainless steel wine barrels, they wonder how this wine barrel measures up in these two areas. Oak alternatives do the flavoring […] Read More »
Tag Archives: oxidization
It is a common misconception that stainless steel wine barrels are new on the winemaking scene. Yes, they look sexy and futuristic, but stainless steel tanks have been advocated for by winemakers since the early 60’s and stainless steel barrels were not a far jump for winemakers. Understandably, the tradition of oak cooping had quite […] Read More »
Even the wine makers who have not seen the light that is the stainless steel wine barrel make use of our “alternative” vessels for topping off. Topping off a wine barrel refers to adding wine to a barrel to make up for the wine that has evaporated. Oak barrels aren’t completely airtight, so evaporation is […] Read More »
They call it the Angel’s Share, it’s the portion of every wine, beer or spirit that’s lost to evaporation during the aging process. Despite the innocent name, a sizeable volume of alcohol and water is stolen from a barrel by way of evaporation. Between evaporation and absorption, oak barrels must be topped off regularly to […] Read More »