We just bought our first barrels. For our first 3 years we've been renting them. Mount Edward couldn't be bank for us any longer so we're having to splash out. So far we've got our used barrels. We've still got to buy the new ones. Last year the average price for a new one was $NZ1675 each. On average they last for 3 to 4 years. Hopefully they're a bit cheaper this year with a weaker euro.
The photo of the barrel head shows an older barrel. From the stencils on the head we can tell quite a bit. The manufacture is Billon. When newer these seem to give a mouth filling mocha portion to our wine. The forest is Allier. Allier is a cooler wetter forest and produces tight grained wood. Tight grained wood seems to suit our barrels giving it nice structure and enhancing elegance. This one is medium plus toast which gives that toast influence. The staves for this barrel were outside in the weather for 3 years before being curved into a barrel. Made in 2006. at the bottom is certification that it was made by traditional methods.
Barrels add something and there are thousands of variables they can introduce. Something I'm trying to reduce. Before we bought this property the wine was aged in american oak with very heavy toasting. The wine became a background thing and the wood smacked you right in the mouth. Apparently it aged well but the site expression was lost.
This part of our wine making process is the only part (barring the initial planting of foreign vines) that introduces an exotic terroir. Unfortunately NZ oak is too porous for the job of barrelling. Ultimately I would like to use NZ native timber. This, as far as I know hasn't been done yet. Beech has been used in other countries in whites but not NZ beech. We need to do some experimentation and research there to create more true site expression and less foreign interference. If successful we might take more note of the riches we had here and replant native forests.
For now we'll continue with the traditional method of aging and malo fermenting.
