A tale of barrels

YEAH!!!!!! WE HAVE ALL OUR 07 WINES IN BARRELS NOW AND THE AGING PROCESS HAS BEGUN.

This shot from last year shows how we store our barrels on metal racks after they are full. The racks can be easily moved with our fork lift attachment on our tractor for storage. Each French oak barrel holds 300 liters or 24 cases of wine so we have to be very careful when we move them. We use only French oak as our winemaker is very particular about that. Some of our area winemakers are using what is called "European Oak barrels" from Romania which are one third less and supposedly from the same species of oak tree except from a few hundred miles more Easterly but we are still using the real deal. We use new French for the best juice and then one year old oak for the rest. After two years we sell the barrels empty for garden planters. Each new French oak barrel costs about $1300 Kiwi and we sell them for $60 so barrel cost is a significant part of our winemaking costs. "You get what you pay for in life" is what my dad always said so we will keep up this process as long as our wine comes out as good as it has so far.

More next time on labeling processes which can be a maze of regulations and lots of paperwork.


Dr Jim in Tennessee