There is nothing better than a traditional oak barrel to age a drink.

Dating back to antiquity the casks, barrels, or tanks, whatever they are called, were invented by the Gauls around the 3rd century BC. J.-C., in order to avoid the use of leaky and fragile containers to store edible liquids. Earlier, the Celts used palm wood, which was more difficult to process and bend, so the Gauls began to make barrels from oak. They were stronger than clay amphoras and became vessels in which drinks were transported throughout the Roman Empire. The barrel had a significant drawback: the wine in it oxidized faster and could not be stored for decades, as in amphoras.

The quality characteristics of an oak barrel were first appreciated in Europe. France, northern Italy and Switzerland created a real revolution in cooperage at the beginning of the 19th century, starting to use a barrel to age wine and other alcoholic beverages precisely for the purpose of giving them a rich aroma and pleasant taste. The boom in trade in the 19th century allowed coopers to make effective use of very good oaks from Russia and Ukraine.

A worthy successor to the amphora, the wooden barrel held the de facto monopoly of winemaking for almost two millennia. Barrel-aged wines are a traditional part of the wine world. For the vast majority of consumers, it is impossible to imagine a wine cellar without oak barrels. Among all the existing containers for the fermentation or aging of wine, the barrel remains the most expensive and the most difficult to use. What are the advantages of using such a complex container? The main objective is to create wines with complex aromas and long-term aging potential.

Over time, it was noticed that this container has interesting properties regarding the aging of wine, the barrel gives the wine phenolic compounds, which, in the end, allows us to talk about a certain aromatic complexity. Tannins (non-volatile compounds) pass with difficulty from the barrel into the wine, but soften the wine and its natural tannins. This is especially noticeable in the case of very powerful wines. The barrel allows the wine to «breathe». The wood is slightly porous, so the process of micro-oxygenation takes place, the wine changes almost magically, but also requires extra care and handling.

Later winemakers realized that wood tannins affected the style of wine. Therefore, the coopers offer different species of oak for the manufacture of barrels. Sometimes another type of wood, such as chestnut or acacia, can be used for the production of barrels.

Due to the variety of terroirs combined with a toasting technique and more or less intense level of toasting of the barrel, the winemakers have a fairly wide aromatic palette. Depending on the age of the barrel, the aromatic notes will be more or less intense. It is needed to use the new barrels to obtain powerful aromatics. It is also possible to play on the intensity of these notes by blending them with wine aged in older barrels, that have aged one or more wines and therefore give much less flavor.

Indeed, the toasting of the inner face is an essential step in the manufacture of the barrel, because depending on its intensity, it can give the wine aromas of dried fruits, vanilla, coffee, toast, spices, nuts, smoke, black pepper, almond, coconut or even chocolate.

The contact of the oak wood allows the wine to stabilize the color, to develop the structure and the aromatic potential, revealing the expression of fruity notes and giving body and roundness to the wines, to enhance the texture and the sensation in the mouth of the wine by giving it more elegant and complex flavor profiles and lowering the high notes of the aromas. In general, chromatographic analysis of oak wood gives about 100 chemical components.

The main thing when aging in barrels is not to have a dominant woodiness in the wine and not to completely mask the other aromas. In general, the wine is aged in barrels for 12 to 36 months before bottling. This period also plays a role in the evolution and aging potential of the wine.

The barrels are mainly used for aging concentrated red or white wines. In some cases, it is also used for the fermentation of whites.

The wine is put in barrels to rest and stabilize. It may take several months. During this phase, a second fermentation called «malolactic fermentation» begins, which gives the wine its fatness and roundness.

When aging in oak barrels, a small part of the wine evaporates from the barrel through the pores of the wood. The vacuum thus created in the oak barrel can promote oxidation and the development of acetic acid bacteria, which can lead to an increase in volatile acid (vinegar). Therefore, in order to protect the wine, it is necessary to top up and maintain the maximum level in the barrel, and thus keep the cork closed.

As a general rule, only great white wines are fermented in barrels, because they pass this stage without the skin or seeds. Some winemakers practice the fermentation of red wines in barrels, for this purpose the barrel is placed vertically with an open bottom, or the bunghole is modified.

The different sizes of the barrels vary according to the history and geography of the wine regions. The size of the barrel is also important, not all barrels have the same capacity. It is necessary to proceed from the principle that the larger the barrel, the less there is an exchange between the wood and the wine, therefore less transfer of woody notes.

There are many varieties of barrels in terms of capacity, but the best known are the 225-liter Bordeaux barrel and the 228-liter Burgundy barrel, also known as a “piece”. In practice, it turned out that the 225 l barrels also have an ideal ratio between the surface of the barrel walls and the volume of wine. Therefore, they can be considered «standard», that is to say the most used, and also following the logic of the unit of measurement used in Anglo-Saxon countries which is the gallon (gal) (4 ,54L); i.e. 225 L = 50 gallons.

There are still barrels of different sizes today, for example the 230 liter «barrique nantaise» and the 300 liter «barrique béarnaise».

Today, the situation has changed and the number of wines aged in barrels is decreasing every year, and their place is taken by wines aged in neutral containers with the addition of alternative oak products. There are several reasons for this:

• the price of barrels, which continues to increase;
• the alternative is ten times less expensive than a barrel, which allows winemakers to significantly reduce production costs and to be more competitive;
• it is much easier to use pieces of wood, the risk of disease is much lower than in barrels;
• the possibility of adjusting the dosages;
• the use of alternative products gives a much more stable aging result from year to year.

Prices for barrels are constantly rising, due to the gradual reduction in the amount of wood all over the world. Thus, for several decades, winemakers and spirits producers around the world have been using alternative aging methods.

According to experts, the best alternative method of aging is to extend the life of old barrels (barrels that have had 3-4 wines). Today, there are many different systems for extending the life of a barrel. This is the insertion of toasted pieces of wood of different shapes and sizes into the barrel, which give the drink tannins and oaky aromas, while the barrel provides micro-oxygenation. This synergy makes it possible to obtain drinks with well-integrated woody nuances. It has been established that the use of an alternative when aging wine and spirits in exhausted barrels effectively provides them with components of oak wood.

Of all the wines bottled, only 5% are passed through wooden barrels. Unlike them, wine aged in neutral tanks with the addition of alternative products represents 35% of the market. All other wines entering the market are wines aged in neutral containers without contact with wood.

Is there a qualitative difference between wine aged in barrels and wine aged in stainless steel tanks with pieces of wood? Sensory analysis does not make it possible to feel the difference.

With the latest technologies, it is possible to get high-quality drinks while preserving nature. The responsible attitude of everyone towards nature is extremely important, especially in the conditions of the ecological crisis.

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Wine lovers have probably encountered amphora wines in their tasting practice. This is the name given to wines that have been made in a clay container at some stage (either during fermentation or during ageing, or both). The word «amphora» is used as an international unification for such a vessel, although the names and their appearances differ from country to country. An amphora is a vase-shaped clay container. Clay jars are considered the earliest wine containers in human history. In Georgia, in the «cradle of winemaking», amphoras are found under the name «qvevri» (Georgian ქვევრი). They have always been used, and in different regions of the country they differ slightly in appearance. For example, in warmer regions of Georgia, kvevri have a more elongated shape, as they are buried deeper in the ground. Georgian kvevri was used as early as 7000 BC. J.-C.

Historian Levan Pruidze believes that the Georgians started making wine vessels as soon as they learned to work with clay, that is, during the Neolithic era. And although it is very difficult to establish the exact time of origin of the first kvevri, it is known that historically in Georgia, as today, there were two main centers of construction of kvevri — in the west , in Imereti and in the east — in Kakheti. Making a kvevri is a construction, it is built layer by layer, taking your time, letting the previous layer dry well, and taking care not to disturb the proportions. The craftsman who builds a kvevri is called mekvevre in Georgian. In Georgia there is no school that teaches how to build a kvevri, as a rule, knowledge is passed from generation to generation. Levan Pruidze, however, believes that knowledge and experience are not enough — for kvevri to come out, the master must have mystical intuition. «The mystery lies in the fact that Mekvevre can only intuitively determine the proportions and ensure that they are not disturbed during the construction process», explains the historian.

Not all clays are suitable for kvevri. There is a certain type of particularly resistant clay, which is extracted in quarries designed solely for this purpose. Kvevri from another clay can quickly crack. Kvevri are built in a special, draft-free room, where the same temperature is constantly maintained. The type of clay is also extremely important for winemaking, as the quality of wine depends on the quality of the raw materials from which the kvevri is made. The clay also includes lime, a natural antiseptic.

In the premises where the kvevri are built, it is forbidden to speak aloud, as well as to smoke. The Kvevri like silence, because they have a certain energy. They must be protected from contamination, so that later the wine, which is also a living organism, does not take over the negative energy.

Firing is an equally complicated process: the fire in the oven must burn for three days and three nights, and that’s not a saying from folk tales. The burnt kvevri gradually changes color from gray to orange and here the craftsman must again trust his intuition to determine that the container is ready. Only hornbeam or beech wood is suitable for firing kvevri. From the inside, the new kvevri is covered with a layer of special wax. Outside, the burnt kvevri is covered with a layer of cement that will protect it from underground destruction.

In Spain, an earthenware vessel for wine is called «tinaja», and it looks more like an egg. In Portugal, the container is called «talha», in Armenia — «karas». But in Italy, the vases are called amphorae. You can also find the word jar there. Their shape has proven its effectiveness even today, as it can provide ideal conditions for the maturation of wine without the intervention of the winemaker. An interesting fact is that to this day all amphoras are made by hand.

Amphoras were mentioned in the wake of the reconstruction of historical winemaking methods and the search for alternative, as natural as possible methods of vinification and aging, when natural wines and orange wines (wines whites in the skin method — contact of the grape must with the skin during vinification) became fashionable. Today, wines in amphoras are made not only in Georgia, but also in France, Chile, Italy and other countries.

Indeed, it took two millennia for the amphoras to return to the cellars again. In search of particular flavors, clay containers are used today in winemaking, as well as oak barrels, stainless steel tanks and tuns. Amphoras with a volume of 200 to 3000 liters are most often used for commercial wines. Caring for an amphora is easy, which is much more convenient than an oak barrel. The main disadvantage of this type of container is its fragility.

Amphoras, like barrels, allow wine to breathe through the process of micro-oxygenation. Clay is a very neutral material that does not alter the taste of wine. Chemistry therefore does its work of aeration (binds tannins and anthocyanins) to reveal more roundness and fruitiness during ageing. Slow stirring in an amphora optimizes yeast autolysis for a silkier mouthfeel while preserving the purity of the fruit.

For red wines, the objective is gentle aging to give complexity to the tannins and aromatic finesse. One of the biggest advantages of amphoras is the extremely natural vinification without any «violence». The wine is macerated, infused and extracted gently, long and slowly, which gives incomparably silky tannins even on very tannic varieties such as Mourvèdre or Malbec. Another advantage of wine in amphora is that vinification can take place simultaneously with ageing.

For the production of wine according to traditional Kakheti technology, kvevri are buried up to their necks in the ground in special warehouses marani (translated from Georgian — «wine cellar», a kind of analogue of the European terms estate, castle, castello or tenuta) and stay there permanently. The kvevri is buried in dry soil with good drainage.

Harvested grapes (harvest in Georgian — rtveli) are pressed in special satsnakhel presses and poured into kvevri up to the neck with pulp, grape seeds and stalks, where fermentation and aging follow one another. This Georgian technology belongs to the UNESCO cultural heritage list. During the fermentation process, the skin, grape seeds and stalks rise up and form a dense «cap». Sometimes it is broken up and again mixed with must. The ovoid shape of the kvevri favors the natural circulation of the must. Wine matures in kvevri at a constant, natural earth temperature of 14-15 degrees. At this temperature, the extraction of the active substances is very slow.

In Georgia (or in other regions that use the same methods but without burying the amphoras) this makes it possible to produce macerated white wines called «orange wine». Red and white wines are vinified according to the same scheme. The contact of the skin with the juice allows a phenolic extraction which stabilizes the wines, without recourse to SO2 which favors the purity of the grape juice. Once the alcoholic fermentation process is complete, malolactic fermentation can begin naturally.

After the end of fermentation, the skins, lees and seeds fall to the bottom. Currently the kvevri are covered with wooden lids and sealed with clay to protect the wine from the air. A large stone is sometimes placed on the lid. In this form, the wine is left until the end of winter.

Maturation lasts about six months. Depending on the cuvées and vintages, this period can last up to a year. During aging in kvevri, the wine naturally brightens, becomes crystalline (white or red) and does not need additional filtration, as the remaining skin is not pressed.

In the spring (often at Easter), the wine matured on the musts is carefully transferred to another kvevri, from 50 to 300 liters, previously cleaned with spruce bushes and stored until consumption. In these kvevri, wine is aged with little access to oxygen. After a few months, the wine is bottled.

With the necessary maintenance, the amphoras can serve for about thirty years. For this, they must be washed regularly. Between each wine, it is necessary to carry out disinfection by pouring citric or tartaric acid. When the amphora is empty, it is best to leave it open to ensure good ventilation. The maintenance of an amphora is easy, which is much more practical than an oak barrel.

Winegrowers choose amphoras to create wines with a pronounced fruity profile. But sometimes, in search of new tastes and aromas, some winegrowers add alternative oak products to the amphora, to enrich the wine with notes of aging. Just like grape seeds and stalks, the pieces of oak remain in the amphora throughout the vinification/aging period. As a rule, oak chips are not used for aging in amphoras, but the staves or cubes.

The dosage varies from 1 to 5 g/l depending on the desired woody intensity and the character of the wine. Toasted pieces of oak wood can be added to red wines as well as white wines during vinification in amphoras. When using cubes, it is more convenient to place them in a filter mesh.

The winemaker chooses the level of toasting of alternative products according to the style of the wine. It is possible to mix wood of different toasting levels, knowing that the more the wood is toasted, the less it will improve the structure of the wine, and the more it will affect the aroma.

The influence of alternative oak products on the aromatic profile of the wine depends on the level of toasting of oak wood. There are 4 main levels of wood toasting for oenology:

• untoasted wood — above all, it allows maximum development of fruity notes, reduces herbaceous and reductive aromas, stabilizes the color of red wines, increases the sugar content, strengthens the structure and aging potential of the wine;

• light toast — suitable for wines which require minimal aroma enhancement and higher tannin content. The Light Toast provides a delicate vanilla note and allows the fruity aroma of the wine to develop;

• medium toast — ideal for concentrated red and white wines and mature white wines. This toast imparts signicantly greater complex and toasty aromas; the longer toasting period provides the greater lignin degradation, producing a stronger vanilla aroma;

• heavy toast — ensures almost complete decomposition of the chemical components present in the oak. This level of toast is ideal for wines looking for full impact of complex aromas and flavor notes with a lesser contribution of tannins to the wine structure. The Heavy toast gives a smoky and black pepper taste and aroma to the wine.

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