American Barrels

American Oak Barrels

Oak has been in used in the wine aging process for thousands of years, dating back to the Roman empire. Oak barrels have the unique ability to impart 'oak' flavor to wine which can be described as leather, vanilla, clove, spice, leather, toast, liqurice and smoke. Small amounts of oxygen also transfer though the wood slowly allowing the wine to mature more quickly than if the wine was aged in glass, plastic or Stainless Steel. Wine barrels also will evaporate alcohol and water which concentrates the flavor of wine. The best tasting red wines in the world are usually aged in oak barrels.

Grape and Granary offers a few sizes of American oak barrels and stands for home winemakers. We recommend using the same size barrel as the batch size you are making as barrels should always be kept full and stoppered with a solid bung. Whenever the solid bung is removed from the barrel, you should hear a vacuum sound. If you do not, you  do not have a good seal. Before replacing the bung, you should add more wine to the barrel to fill it completely. This is called 'topping up'. Then the bung can be replaced.

Contact Us if you have questions about any of our American Oak Wine Barrels.