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April 2015 WINES&VINES 35 OAK BARREL ALTERNATIVES is not a barrel alternative so much as a barrel in a different format. The tank now features a dome-shaped lid that he said is easier to open and close while also providing a better seal. The cubes are available in 265-, 397- and 530-gallon capaci- ties, providing a maximum 1,060 gallons of storage when stacked. Flexcube partnered with a cooperage in Charentes, France, to create staves for the cube and also produce barrels under the Oak Mas- ters Selection brand. Steer said the only dif- ference between BarriQ staves and those used for barrels is that they are not bent and hooped. At the recent Wines & Vines Oak Con- ference held in Napa, Calif., on Feb. 11, Flex- cube also unveiled its new BarriQ staves with ends milled similar to barrel staves. Flexcube offers single-forest origin barrel packs from the French Tronçais and Jupilles forests as well as French-American hybrid, American and Russian oak packs. The Australian company Stak- vat produces a 900-liter, stainless- steel tank that can be stacked and equipped with oxygen-permeable barriers slipped into two of the tank walls to provide varying ox- ygen-transmission rates for wine maturation. The tank is designed to work with the firm's line of Oakbak staves, which are produced using staves from worn-out old barrels. Decommissioned barrels are bro- ken down into staves that are then stripped of any wine-saturated wood and re-toasted with an in- frared heat system. The company claims it can produce 8 square meters, or more than 80 square feet of oak staves, from one 225- liter barrel. American firm OVinti, which sells its prod- ucts under the OVinti, Flextank Inc. and Flex- tank USA labels or trademarks, produces a range of polyethylene tanks for fermentation and aging wine. The company also sells the Wine Stix line of alternatives for use in its tanks. Paso Robles, Calif.-based tank manufacturer Paso Robles Tank has developed a fermentation tank with a stainless steel "basket" that can be filled with oak chips and staves. "This is a new Paso Robles Tank's new tank basket is designed to make working with oak alternatives easier. Stakvat's tank features oxygen-permeable walls that can be adjusted to provide different rates of maturation.