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p r a c t i c a l w i n e r y & v i n e ya r d n O v e M B e r 2 0 1 4 113 b O O k e X C e R P T a spigot in the head, or end, of a barrel into a glass, bottle or pitcher. Barrels had significant advantages over ceramic containers for size and du- rability. Wooden barrels and tanks could be made much larger without adding significantly to their weight. They were also less likely to break if dropped or jostled. In the vast forests of Europe, Rus- sia and North America, wood — espe- cially oak, poplar, elm, fir and chestnut — was a plentiful resource. The use of barrels increased as these and further advantages over other container — ce- ramic or stone vessels, woven baskets, bladder or hide sacs, shells or even large nuts —became apparent. Air, insects and rodents were and are common enemies of the safe storage of many food staples. Wooden barrels pro- vide protection from all of these: Wine can stay bunged in barrels for several months without oxidation; water does not leak from a properly made barrel, and saltwater, insects and rats cannot enter to spoil flour, grain or meat. Some whiskies are aged for up to 12 years in the same barrel. The ability of barrels to store salted meat safely created the need for even more barrels. Salted beef and pork, the staples of naval and merchant-ship diets during the age of sail, needed fresh water in which to soak prior to cooking and eating. Ships carried barrels of fresh water both for drinking and for prepar- ing food for eating. The maintenance and repair of the barrels would have been the responsibility of the ship's cooper, a name still used to describe the craftsmen who build and care for barrels, as well as a now-common English surname. From cooper, the word "cooperage" evolved as the place where barrels are made and the generic name for the round, wooden containers. Security, mobility, adaptability, cost and ease of fabrication were all advantages that food producers and merchants sought when considering containers for their products. The wooden barrel, whether tight or slack, filled these re- quirements for many historic (and a small number of present-day) commodities. Yet barrels were not a primary prod- uct, they were the packaging. By exten- sion, the demand for barrels was subject to the winds of a constantly shifting economy, which bought and sold greater or lesser amounts of wine, herring or oil. The coopers who fabricated the barrels constituted an adjunct part of the equa- tion. Their livelihood was determined by which container the merchants consid- ered best for their commodity, how well that commodity sold and what regional and national politics were currently in play. Compounding these factors were the periodic episodes of war, famine, plague and specific kinds of weather – all issues continually impacting demand for the barrel and its usage. PWV Henry H. Work is a cooper who has worked in wineries of the Napa Valley and California and with whiskey distilleries in Kentucky. He has written extensively on the subject, including for Practical Winery & Vineyard and Australian & New Zealand Grapegrower & Winemaker magazines. He is a native of the United States, and lives in Nelson, New Zealand. Wine can stay bunged in barrels for several months without oxidation; water does not leak from a properly made barrel, and saltwater, insects and rats cannot enter to spoil flour, grain or meat.