Production and aging of wine in the small oak cooperage

Wines & Vines, March, 2001 by Richard H. Graff, Andre Tchelistcheff

Winemaking Techniques

We are confining our remarks to procedures which apply particularly to the use of small cooperage and to the production of quality wines, especially of the Burgundy and Bordeaux types.

Fermentation. 1. White Wines. The white wines both of Burgundy and of Bordeaux are always fermented in 60-gallon barrels (the piece of Burgundy and the barrique of Bordeaux, respectively). That is, the juice from the press is put into these barrels either directly or after an overnight settling, depending on the condition of the grapes and/or the ideas of the particular winemaker.

In the case of the great growths or chateaux, the fermentation is always conducted in new, completely untreated barrels--a practice which greatly enhances the bouquet and style of the wines. We have had several occasions to make a comparison between two barrels of the same wine--the one fermented and stored in new oak and the other in used. The wine from the new oak was invariably superior, especially in bouquet.

2. Red wines. The red wines from both regions are put directly into 60-gallon barrels as soon as the gross lees have settled after pressing. Again, new, untreated barrels are used for all of the best wines, and the same comparisons made between wines from new and from used barrels demonstrate the value of new wood for young wines. The wine from the new barrels always has a fuller, more complex, and more elegant bouquet.

The importance of new barrels is universally conceded in both districts, but new ones are not always employed, for two reasons:

First, new barrels each year represent a considerable outlay, and many winegrowers whose wines don't command high prices feel that they cannot afford it.

Second, since wine is not shipped in the barrel much anymore, some winegrowers don't know what to do with their used barrels. They find it difficult to discard perfectly sound barrels which have been used for only one vintage of wine.

For most of the best winegrowers, however, the annual outlay for new barrels is considered absolutely necessary, and this expense is a regular part of their production costs.

Racking and Fining. The wine is usually simply racked from one barrel to another, washing out each barrel as it is empty and immediately filling it again from the next barrel, in general, keeping each lot of wine in the same set of barrels.

Finings are conducted right in the barrel. Some wineries, however, empty all the barrels of a particular lot of wine into a large tank, replacing the wine into the barrels after they have been washed. Finings can also be conducted in a large tank in which all of the wine can be treated at once.

Racking is generally accomplished by applying pressure to the barrel to be emptied and thus forcing the wine out through a pipe or hose to the next barrel. In some cases the wine is forced through the hole near the base of the head, and in others it leaves the barrel through the bunghole by means of a tube or pipe which extends through a tightly-fitting stopper almost to the bottom of the barrel.