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A Technical Guide for Wine Producers
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WHAT'S UP IN THE VINEYARD AND CELLAR
Red wine fermentation in small barrels
Skin contact before, during and after the alcoholic fermentation of red wines is an essential vinification practice when making red wine. Various methods and techniques to ensure the effectiveness of this practice are constantly being investigated or developed. Besides adapting the construction of fermentation containers to implement a particular method, the role of the container has received very little attention.
Skin contact during the vinification of red wine traditionally takes place in stainless steel, cement or plastic tanks and various methods of punching down the skins or racking the juice are used to mix the juice and the skins. In recent years some wine cellars have begun filling small barrels with mashed grapes and using various methods of moving the barrels to facilitate mixing. The use of barrels for white wine fermentation is much older because obviously the absence of skins makes it much easier to do so.
The development of new equipment to handle the barrels has played a significant role in the use of barrels for red wine fermentation. As a result even 225 litre barrels are easily filled with mashed grapes and the barrels rotated up to 360 degrees to obtain mixing. It is a commonly held opinion that wines made in this way have a more integrated wood character, the grape tannins are softer, the fruit flavours richer and the colour intensity better than wines made in large containers. Apart from crushing of the skins, all the vinification processes from cold maceration until just prior to bottling are able to take place in the same barrel. The practice is used internationally, even at famous chateaux such as Lascombes and Beychevelle. The winemaker of the well-known Californian winery Beaulieu Vineyard ferments his flagship wine in small barrels and he is convinced that the resultant wine is more complex, the colour of the wine better stabilised and the tannins softer.
Obviously the practical feeding of the mashed grapes into the barrel and the subsequent removal of the skins and grape seeds are problematic; however, several solutions are possible. Tonnelerie Vernou, for example, foresees that their barrels, supplied in 900 or 1 200 litre capacity, will be fitted with a stainless steel entry port, equipped with a seal and pressure release valve (the 2008 prices of the two capacities are respectively US$7 000 and US$10 000). These barrels are mounted on rollers and the grapes can be fed and removed from the barrels either by gravity or by using a pump. The Vinification Integrale system, which supplies a wide range of barrels by Tonnelerie Baron, with capacities ranging from 225 to 500 litres, has a 150 mm entry port in one of the barrel heads with the bung hole serving as pressure valve. Some cellars find the filling and emptying processes too time-consuming and prefer to remove one of the barrel heads, then replacing it before or after juice/skin separation. Cold maceration may be applied for five to seven days, with the addition of dry ice and during the subsequent fermentation, juice/skin mixing may be achieved by turning it six times a day. To remove the skins one barrel head is removed and the juice separated from the skins with a sieve, where after the skins may be crushed.
The initial capital outlay and high labour costs associated with this practice must be weighed up against the following pros and cons before deciding in favour of its implementation:
Intardonato, John. 2008. Big Red Wines from Small Barrels. Wine Business Monthly, 15(5): 32 - 34.
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