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A Technical Guide for Wine Producers
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RECENT ARTICLES | WYNBOER HOME
Wine In Wood And Wood In Wine
The use of different size barrels
Charl Theron, extraordinary lecturer in Oenology, Tim Rypstra, professor in Wood Science and Jan Swart, director: Wood and Fibre Institute.
Ever since the earliest days of wine, various vessels have been used for storage. The capacity of these containers was not always known, often differing from one country to the next. In some cases certain barrels had the same name, even though they differed in volume. The Mediaeval barrel from Florence measured only 45 litres, while the fifteenth century English wine barrel contained 143 litres. Nowadays there are only a few standard wine barrels in all the wine countries. The French barrel, be it Bordeaux or Burgundy, ranges from 225 to 228 litres. The modern hogshead contains 300 litres, while the puncheon has a capacity of 500 litres. Pipes that are used especially for sweetish wines or brandies may range in capacity from 550 to 630 litres.
In both the old and the new wine world, the 225 litre wine barrel has more or less become the standard barrel size for wine maturation. This size barrel came to be used more than a century ago, because it could be handled by a single person. However, winemakers started asking more and more questions about barrel size. In the early eighties Californian winemakers did not order any puncheons (500 litres), while demand currently outstrips supply. Apart from the increasing demand for puncheons, there is also a definite trend to ferment in bigger vertical oak containers.
Apart from the use of puncheons, 400 litre barrels have also come into play. This is true especially for the Italian cultivars Nebbiolo and Sangiovese. Nebbiolo is traditionally used in 500 litre barrels for the maturation of the well-known Barolo, while Sangiovese wines on the other hand may absorb too much wood character if the wooden barrels are too small. Pinot noir wines are generally more delicate and should not be exposed to excessive influence of wood either. In general, as may be expected, slower maturation with less loss of fruit character is obtained when using bigger barrels. In cultivars that do not have outspoken fruit character, this is obviously very important. Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon wines may also benefit from the use of bigger barrels, however.
The use of bigger barrels also has detrimental effects. The cradles are more expensive and obviously require more space. Practices such as racking and moving of barrels also require more labour (Walker, 2006).
In South Africa the approximate price per litre of the different size French oak barrels, delivered at the cellar, is as follows:
Apart from the cost factor, the practical advantages of the bigger barrels lie in their use as fermentation vessels for smaller volumes of selected grapes or cultivars. The barrel head may be removed before fermentation, and replaced so that it may be used as a maturation vessel. The use of the barrel for alcoholic fermentation therefore eliminates the use of other forms of wood addition for the colour stabilisation of red wines.
As mentioned above, the bigger barrels require more physical attention. Smaller cellars with limited labour, space and cradles, will therefore not be able to change over to the bigger barrels without a forklift, seeing that the cost benefit will be offset by other additional costs.
Reference:
Walker, L. 2006. How Big Is Your Barrel? WINES & VINES February 2006: 18 - 19.
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