Solutions
Why Our Process Works
The key to our process is that we perform a full visual inspection of each and every barrel. By removing the barrel's top, we are able to look for signs of a bad barrel, such as blisters holding old wine or evidence of contaminants like Brettanomyces, trichloroanisole (TCA), or V.A. No other barrel cleaning method provides such a thorough examination of the barrel's interior. If a barrel looks bad, we alert the winemaker of the problem. If all is well, the barrel will go through the blasting process.
Blisters:
Through development of our blasting process, we have encountered many barrel associated problems, but none so compelling as the large wood blisters we have found full of old wine. In the normal process of toasting barrels, blisters may form from the stresses of the bending and toasting process. Although it is normal to have some blisters, excessive or large blisters indicate rapid heating of the wood, or the use of oak with an extreme moisture level. This could have a detrimental effect on the outcome of the wine.
These blisters become a collection point for wine and a breeding ground
for contamination. When the barrels are emptied, wine will remain in these pockets, which can then spoil. This contaminated wine residue has the potential to leak out slowly having a devastating effect on the new incoming batch of wine. Even the best washing system cannot clean out the wine trapped in the wood, and winemakers don't even know they exist because they are out of physical view. The only way to really address this problem is to remove one end of the barrel and visually inspect the interior for blisters.
Most winemakers have told us they never realized the potential for disaster until they saw with their own eyes contaminated juice oozing out of blisters in their opened barrels. Some barrels will have multiple blisters scarring the interior of their barrels. In addition to contaminated wine that may get trapped inside the pockets, we have also found trapped cleaning agents which could affect the final product should they leech back out.
During our barrel process, we open one end of the barrel, smell, and
visually inspect the interior. We then scrape and shave open and hand
blast any blisters we feel may compromise the integrity of the next batch
of wine. We pull aside questionable barrels and alert winemakers to any potential problems and let them decide if a barrel needs to be rejected.
We suggest that blasting immediately after emptying and rinsing of your barrels, but before storage, is the best procedure to keep a good barrel from spoiling. Your barrel will remain clean and fresh inside with less SO2 while in storage.
Sanitization/Elimination of Mold
Sanitization is above-all the most important aspect in good barrel
maintenance. At 109 degrees below 0, dry ice has proven effective in
removing mold spores, bacteria, fungus, and many other winery associated problems. With our process, dry ice is propelled at velocities to achieve the energy to strip and clean surfaces. Dry ice blasting will typically remove about fifty thousandths of the wood's surface being cleaned. This abrasion is enough to effectively remove the mold spores, but not enough to alter the structural integrity of the contaminated area.
See Results
Table.
Barrel Blasting's process has successfully removed or reduced TCA, (Trichloroanisoles), Brettanomyces, and volatile acidity(VA) from contaminated surfaces. Our process also removes any visible tartrate crystals and wine residues and ensures a clean, sanitary barrel for your next batch of wine.
Microoxygenation
For centuries, wineries have been using the time-honored tradition of
barrel aging their wines. Barrel aging consists of two separate aging functions. The first is extraction in which the phenolics are extracted from the wood into the wine. The second is oxidation in which the components of the wine react to a slight exposure to oxygen through the grain of the wood and the gaps between the staves. The barrels' ability to allow this gentle oxygenation is beneficial to the structure and character of many wines. Oxygen allows wine to develop and age gracefully - an occurrence commonly referred to as microoxidation or microoxygenation. In the presence of dissolved oxygen, the small tannin molecules join together to form long chain tannins. These are softer, more supple and far less bitter than the small tannins from which they were built. This process is known to winemakers as polymerisation and is encouraged wherever possible in full bodied style wines.
Barrels assist with the wine's formation. In a barrel, the extraction of flavor compounds from the oak is always in combination with the oxygen exposure that the barrel allows. If your barrels have a layer of heavy tartrate build-up, this could severely reduce the natural oxygenation found with barrel aging, thus reducing the flavor being extracted from the oak barrel. Let us help you ensure that you are getting the maximum oxygenation out of your barrels with our Barrel Blasting process. We remove the tartrate crystals and old wine residue. Our process exposes fresh toasted wood so that the barrel is better able to breathe. This allows the maximum oxygenation to occur which is important for the wine maturation process.
Low Leakage Rate
Our process yields a very low leak rate. A customer recently told us that 'his reconditioned barrels had no more leakers than new barrels do." David Yorgensen of O'Brien Family Vineyard in Napa said he "found no leakers out of 50 of his barrels blasted in one day by Cryo Clean."
After our Barrel Blasting process, we recommend that you keep the barrel
hydrated to prevent drying and bacterial contamination.
No need to re-toast
The key to our process is that we are leaving the barrel's original toast intact. We remove approximately fifty thousandths of an inch of old wood to expose fresh toasted wood and increase the surface area of your barrel, so more wine comes in contact with more oak. Because we aren't adding or removing anything, just cleaning the barrel, there is no need to re-toast after our Barrel Blasting process.
Cost Effective
Wineries can suffer losses from bacterial contamination rendering batches of wine useless and causing lost revenues. The market for effective and efficient means of cleaning is increasing and divergent.
Because the useful lifespan of an oak barrel is approximately 3-4 years, a winery must continually replace barrels as they age. With the prices of French oak constantly on the rise, wineries are looking for ways to get more life out of their barrels.
Our Barrel Blasting process not only gives winemakers peace of mind that
they have a clean, sanitary barrel, but it also gives them an extra year
or two of use out of their oak wine barrels and saves them money in the
process. If a winemaker spends $700.00 on a new French barrel, uses it
for three years, and then sells it for $100, that's a net cost of $600.00 over three years which equals $200.00 per year. By using our process, a winemaker can spend $50.00 per barrel and get one more year out of it, resulting in a savings of $150.00 that year.
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It gives me great satisfaction and peace of mind to know that I can confidently store my wine in these
freshly blasted barrels maintaining the integrity and high quality
of my wines." Norman Beko,
Cottonwood Canyon Winery
Why should you have your barrel inspected? Well, do
you know what's inside your barrel?
Here is a sampling of the interiors of various barrels that we have come
across:
"Up to five liters of wine can be trapped in the wood
of an empty barrel, in the tartrate layer or in blisters. Wood is
microporous. Bacteria can hide deep in the wood and are protected from
sterilizing agents." - Scraping the barrel
for recycling - Brief Article, Wines & Vines, Jan, 2002 by Frank
Smith
"I am convinced that CryoClean's barrel-blasting
process is the most significant thing to happen to barrel sanitation since
ozone. Even though barrel blasting is in its beginning stages, it is
showing real promise, especially for the premium winery looking for
ultimate barrel sanitation." Pete Sayre,
Stave Works.
Mold on Barrel Top
Moldy Barrels
After Blasting
Tartrate Build Up
After Blasting
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