Key Ways to Improve the Life of your Wine Barrels

Wine barrels are one of the biggest investments a winery can make. Many wineries consider that improving and extending the life of their wine oak barrels is one of their top business priorities, as lengthening the life of a barrel can save a winery thousands of dollars per year.

Prolonging the life of wine barrel will extend from the average 3-4 years by 25% and ultimately saves dollars and a winemaker's peace of mind that their wine will continue to age in the highest quality. A typical winemaking process starts with harvesting in initial stage to the final output in bottling wines. It is important to prolong the life of barrel in the middle of the process to improve the quality of wine as barrels are used to store wine in longer periods.

When a wine barrel is used past its general usage period, the wine barrel will lose its oak flavouring and therefore the wine will no longer age and enhance in flavour. However, by the time a wine grower realises that their wine has been impacted by the quality of a barrel, it is too late to try and reverse the issue.

The following methods are key ways to help pro-long the life of your wine barrel.   The ability to "safeguard" your barrel from potential impurities and wine growing bacteria such as Brettanomyces, will save your winery dollars and its reputation.

1) Rehydrating the timber

Many wine makers understand the importance of re-hydrating a wine barrel to keep it in peak condition. The traditional process of re-hydrating usually occurs during the cleaning process when large amounts of water is used to flush, rinse and clean out wine barrels, with or without chemicals.

However, if this kind of process, particularly if chemicals are used, leads to another concern for wineries, the management of wastewater. The overuse of water is an environmental issue on its own and the incorrect use of chemicals can strip the wine barrel of its moisture rather than seal it in and damage the wine.

Continuous steam flow produced by Wine Barrel Cleaning equipment, combined with a direct connection for water supply for pressure washing, is an ideal method for both re-hydrating wine barrels as it uses both steam and water. The amount of water used in this method is considerably less than solely using a water pressure process due to the steam being the key sanitising and cleaning component, rather than having a reliance on just hot water.

The vapour property of dry steam not only re-hydrates but releases tartrates and old wine that have been absorbed inside the wood.

 

2) Creating a natural vacuum

The ability to capture and trap steam vapour within a wine barrel is a key way to ensure that a barrel is being hydrated and not being used past its "use by date". When steam is diffused through the top of the wine barrel, this creates a  natural vacuum process, as outside air is sucked in through the sides of the timber, whilst the air being inserted from the top is creating a pressure differential.

This "natural vacuum" allows for the steam to be dispersed throughout the entire barrel, not just the top or bottom, and ensures the barrel is getting a deep sanitisation and detartation.

 

Whilst the bung is inserted into the hole of the wine barrel and allowing for the steam to be traapped inside the barrel to do its deep clean, this process can also acts as a quick "leak test" to determine if the barrel has any holes or openings.

3) Opening of the pores

 The vapour property of dry steam allows for the pores of the wood to be opened, releasing not only tartares but also old wine that has been absorbed inside the wood.

One of high temperature steam's key benefits is its ability to kill all bacteria. When high temperature steam pressure gets deep inside the pores at +100 degrees and above,it kills Brettanomyces and any other volatiles, and therefore preserves the life of the wine barrel.

Although hot water may be useful for flushing out toxins, it has the potential to miss parts of a barrel; it does not kill bacteria and does not penetrate deep into the wood of the barrel. In other hand, steam vapour allows instant transfer of heat allowing for extremely quick disinfection, including in areas where water cannot reach.

For more information on barrel steamer or book a demo on wine barrel cleaning equipment and steam cleaning machines, visit http://winebarrelcleaning.com.au