#18: Barrels (Part 3). Journey to Harvest…and Beyond!

Why are some of wine barrels colored red around the center?

I had an inquiry (thanks!) asking that very question!  The stripe is actually painted onto the new wood with the thick wine residue that’s left at the bottom of the barrel after the first racking (when we remove the “clear” wine and leave the residue behind).  The red may look pretty but, most importantly, it hides wine stains that happen when wine is removed or added to the barrel thru the bung hole.  No matter how careful you are, it’s impossible not to get a few red drops on that gorgeous light-colored wood.  White wine barrels do not have that red center for obvious reasons.  Thanks for the question!

The last two issues were about the history of barrels and what barrels might contribute to winemaking, so now it’s time to talk about barrel maintenance and upkeep.

Do barrels “go bad”?

They sure do!  Preserving the freshness and sterilness (is that a word or should it be “sterility”?) of the inside of a used wine barrel is a daunting task.  After the wine has been removed, an empty barrel becomes a breeding ground for bacteria and contamination. Poorly maintained barrels have ruined many a good wine. 

In a perfect world, the best way to preserve a wine barrel would be to keep it completely full of wine.  But with volume loss due to evaporation (even though we “top off” the wine barrels every few weeks) that’s not possible. 

Why does a barrel “goes bad”?

From unsound and unclean cellar practices, barrels can “go south” in a hurry and a winery and barrel room should be kept as clean and sterile as a hospital.  There’s even the added challenge from a little flying insect called a “bore-beetle” which drills a tiny hole right into the wood.  (Apparently, humans aren’t the only critters that like wine.)  We’ve learned to never leave our barrels outside where those dreaded bore beetles are looking for some fresh white oak to make a home!

How do you clean an empty barrel?

Obviously, we empty our barrels in preparation for bottling, but it can be weeks, months or even a year before we put any new wine into that barrel.  When a wine barrel has been emptied, a lot of residue and tartrate crystals will remain on (and in) the wood.  Tartrate crystals may be a harmless byproduct that naturally occurs when we make wine, but they build up over time and should be removed from an empty barrel before reuse or storage of the barrel.  There are a number of time-consuming steps involved in cleaning properly.

First, we rinse out the barrel using a “barrel spinner” which has a revolving, spinning head that blasts high-pressure hot water all around the inside of the upside-down barrel. Then, we repeat the process using cold water.  When the water has drained, we use a pinpoint flashlight and peek inside.

Much of the time, not all the difficult-to-remove residue is eliminated after a barrel spinning session.  Formerly, we simply repeated the process again and again until those hard crystals were removed.  That worked pretty well, but the volume of hot and cold water that we had to use was prohibitive.

The solution?  We now use a steam cleaner specifically designed to remove the caked-on, hard matter from the barrel walls.  It takes less than five minutes and only one gallon of precious water to soften those hard crystals which can then be easily washed away with a small amount of water.  And the added bonus?  Steam, at 220 degrees, will kill most everything!

We were doubtful of steam’s effectiveness until we saw a demonstration where steam was used on a previously cleaned red wine barrel.  After a five minute steam cleaning session, when the barrel was flipped over, the water that drained out was no longer crystal clear.  What flowed from the upside-down barrel was bright red!  Amazing!  No more tartrates!  So, we bought a steam cleaner!  (Suzy’s Anniversary gift)

After steam cleaning, we then use an ozone machine that’s hooked up to water at one end and a barrel spinner on the working end.  The machine converts ordinary water (H2O) into ozonated water (O3) that we spray into the barrel.  Ozone doesn’t “clean”, but it “sterilizes”, so after a two minute application, the barrel is sanitized. The marvelous thing is that the ozonated water very rapidly reverts back to H2O. (Suzy’s Valentine’s Day gift!) 

What’s the best way to store an empty barrel?

Over time, there have been a lot of different ways we’d store empty barrels.  Over three decades ago when we first began making wine, the common practice was to hang a suspended burning sulfur stick inside a cleaned and tightly bunged barrel.  The burning sulfur smoke worked pretty well in eliminating spoilage bacteria, but also created a “burnt match” smell.  Then we started using sulfur dioxide gas, but that was a very dangerous irritant and we had to wear a gas mask during the application and afterwards.  The latest solution is to mix Potassium Metabisulfite (a common food preservative) with Tartaric Acid (50g each) in 5 gallons of water, pour it in the newly cleaned barrel and then swish it around so every part of the inside of the barrel is coated. After tight bunging the barrel for four months, we drain, repeat the cleaning process and add another newly-mixed 5 gallon solution.  We have found this to be the best method yet for preserving our clean & sterile empty barrels. 

What do you do with old barrels?

We usually buy 7-9 new barrels a year, so if I don’t anticipate making more wine the following year, 7-9 barrels will be retired.  But we can do lots of things with the staves, heads and hoops!  We’ve made fences, planters, tables, Lazy Susans and even had a pal make a skateboard out of barrel staves!  Many wineries will sell used barrels to home winemakers or places that refurbish barrels, but we give our used barrels to our wine club members if they want them.  A wine barrel with “GlenLyon” stamped on the head looks pretty cool in your wine cellar.       

A suggestion: if you are a home winemaker, be cautious about buying someone else’s used barrel for your wine.  Since the barrel will probably have some kind of sulfur inside the barrel, you can’t really pull out the stopper and smell inside to see if it smells “fresh”.  Many a sound wine has been ruined by putting good wine into a questionable barrel.  (Don’t ask me how I know this….)

That’s it for this afternoon!  Time to make some dinner and it’s time for a glass of fine GlenLyon wine!  Tonight, a 2021 stainless-fermented Blush ‘O The Boar Rosé  (matured and micro-oxygenated in neutral barrels) that we just bottled.  I’ll serve it chilled and maybe drop we’ll in an ice cube or two.  Then maybe we’ll drift into a glass of red wine (depending on our meal selection!)

Keep those questions coming in!  Next month’s article?  I haven’t decided yet…. September we will definitely be into harvest #36, so perhaps….?

Non mediatio hic est!  (This ain’t no dress rehearsal!”)