Wine Barrels
By LexMel
 | Amazon Price: $100.00 List Price: $129.99 |
 | Amazon Price: $32.00 |
 | Amazon Price: $46.73 List Price: $65.14 |
If you're looking for Wine Barrels, you're at the right spot! Wine Barrels at Hubpages.com features the best in Wine Barrels.
History Of Wine Barrels
Wine barrels have been used for wine making and storage for centuries. Usually, after fermentation, the wine is placed in an oak barrel where it then ages. Wine makers have used oak barrels for quite some time as to allow the aging wine to take on some of the timber flavors.
Before placed in these timber barrels, the wine usually ferments in stainless steel tanks and is then transferred to the barrels. While the majority of wine is fermented in the stainless steel tanks, there are some wines (Chardonnay and Pinot Noir) that actually ferment in the timber barrels. It is believed that French Oak is the best timber to use for making the barrels. This French Oak was planted in abundance during Napolean’s rule to craft sailing ships however, as these sailing ships are no longer in demand, the Oak has been great material for the timber wine barrels. The French Oak is known to send vanilla, spice and butter flavors into the wine causing the wine to be absolutely delicious. These flavors are infused into the wine rather slowly as the French Oak is a tight grained timber.
Making Wine Barrels
Prior to molding the timber into barrels, the wood is usually tried out for a year to ensure the most infusion of flavor from the wood into the wine. These barrels can come in different shades of timber- Light, Medium or Heavy Toast. This refers to how long the wood has been charred over a fire prior to shaping it into the barrel. As with the shade of timber, there are options for the shapes of the barrel- Bordeaux and Burgundy.
These wine barrels typically last about 100 years however, winemakers tend to use them for 5 year periods. Once the 5 year period is over, they switch the wine barrel out for a new wine barrel to ensure all the flavors are infused from the timber to wine. After the barrels are not of use anymore, they can make great indoor or outdoor garden decorations.
Comments
No comments yet.
