BARRELS
View video in the Wines
& Vines Digital Edition.
In this video shot at Cuvee Wine
Cellars in San Carlos, Calif.,
the crew explains their barrelwashing set-up while cleaning
a shipment of used barrels.
2014 harvest. "One of the fun things with
this one is we used car wash technology, so
it has rotating wands in it very similar to
what you see in a car wash," Barr said.
Vic Vasquez, owner of Barrel Blasting in
Napa, Calif., continues to expand his unique
system of cleaning barrels with dry ice. The
system scours the inside of barrels with carbon dioxide crystals, removing wine and
tartrates. "We're the only cleaning system
out there that still removes that old, dirty
surface," he said.
Vasquez said once that layer is removed,
an ozone rinse, sulfur candles and sulfurdioxide gas are more effective as sanitizers
because the gas or aqueous solution can coat
the wood.
He said some clients have started using
barrels that are 10 or 11 years old and have
undergone blasting three times. The first
blasting removes the most material from the
inside of the barrel (about 1-2 mm) as the
Barrel Washing Suppliers
Company Name
PHONE
WEBSITE
ARS/Swash Cleaning and Sanitization
Aaquatools Inc.
Barrel Blasting Inc.
Bavarian Breweries & Distilleries
Carlsen & Associates
Electro-Steam Generator Corp.
Gamajet (Alfa Laval Group)
GW Kent Inc.
miwinebarrel
RLS Equipment Co. Inc.
Revolution Equipment Sales
Spraying Systems Co.
Steamericas
Strahman Valves Inc.
Tom Beard Co.
Western Square Industries Inc.
(707) 942-8330
(800) 777-2922
(707) 312-9084
(310) 391-1091
(707) 431-2000
(866) 617-0764
(610) 408-9940
(734) 572-1300
(800) 727-6294
(609) 965-0074
(707) 573-3154
(800) 957-7729
(310) 327-8900
(484) 893-5080
(707) 573-3150
(800) 367-8383
cleanwinery.com
aaquatools.com
barrelblasting.com
potstills.com
carlsenassociates.com
electrosteam.com
gamajet.com
gwkent.com
miwinebarrel.com
rlsequipment.com
revoquip.com
tankjet.com
steamericas.com
strahmanvalves.com
tombeard.com
westernsquare.com
For more barrel washing suppliers, see Wines & Vines' 2014 Buyer's Guide in print or at winesandvinesbuyersguide.com.
dry ice is stripping out the top layer of
charred wood, Vasquez said. After that, less
material is removed as the wood is tougher.
"We believe we're the only guys who truly
bring out a neutral barrel," he said.
Clients can opt to have Barrel Blasting
install oak staves from their preferred oak
alternative supplier to give a clean and neutral barrel new oak. Barrel Blasting is now
selling cleaned, used barrels that Vasquez is
also sanding on the outside to make them
look like new barrels.
Vasquez likened a dry ice-blasting treatment to going to the dentist: It's a deep
clean rather than daily brushing. He said
he's often blasting barrels that have been
emptied for bottling to get them ready for
storage.
Win es & Vin es F E B RUA RY 20 14 49
