A wine barrel is central to the storing and aging processes of wine which are meant to give a characteristic desirable taste to the wine. This especially applies to more expensive wines that are usually produced to gain quality as they are allowed to age. Traditionally, wood is used for making wine barrels and especially popular for making wine barrels is Oak which allows the wine to incorporate Oak overtones. A wooden wine barrel also allows a little evaporation of the wine contents in the aging period.

Wine Barrel in the West

While wooden barrels have long been used for storing and aging wine, French Oak has been particularly reputed for making wine barrels, its popularity well-established during the reign of Napoleon for shipbuilding. Tight grained wood has been preferred for the purpose of making barrels since a wine barrel of this wood imparts a better degree of oak characteristics like vanilla, butter, and spice flavors than wood comprising looser grain. American Oak, on the other hand, failed to produce good wine barrels for enhancing the wine quality when the first attempts were made to use it for the said purpose. However, it was later figured out that applying the traditional barrel making techniques to American Oak enhanced the quality to a significant extent. These construction techniques were applied to wood from other countries including European countries like Hungary, and the results have been encouraging. The preference for American Oak over French Oak mainly owes to the lower prices the former variety.

Wine Barrel Shapes and Sizes A wide variety of shapes are available for making wine barrels. Winemaking regions usually have their own traditional shapes for making wine barrels, for example Bordeaux Barrels (from the southwest of France) are quite distinct from Burgundy Barrels (east central France). Similarly, there is also a wide variation in the sizes of barrels and their thickness etc. Aging in a Wine Barrel Wine is usually fermented under controlled temperature in stainless steel tanks before placing in wine barrels for aging. While many verities of wine are aged in different barrels, some verities like those made form Chardonnay and Pinot Noir may be aged in the same barrel. To facilitate the process of aging in a barrel, some wine dealers employ used barrels after inserting new, thin, inner staves. There are others who use oak shavings in large sack, like a tea bag, placed in a steel tank to be used as a wine barrel. As a general rule, new barrels are used for imparting greater flavor to the wine contained in them. A wine barrel that is about five years old imparts little taste or flavor to wine and is good for storage purposes only.