Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/70670
TE CHNOL OG Y Toasted residual wine can confer a "cooked sherry" flavor, he said, and some winemakers have found it an unwelcome addi- tion. Burton mentioned one Sonoma County winery that makes more than 500,000 cases of wine, has its own machines and shaves thousands of barrels every year, but doesn't toast to avoid the off flavors. At Barrel Builders' small shop north of St. Helena, workers pop the heads off old barrels before sliding them on to a mount with four rollers. The barrels can then be rotated around a shaver. After the first rough shave, the barrel is removed and the shaving is finished with a hand planer. The barrel is toasted on an open flame and then reassembled. Jason Butler, who worked for two decades in the cooperage trade, recently launched an oak-consulting firm, OAKinsight. He said reconditioned barrels are a viable option as long as winemakers are working with well-made barrels. "I think the best reconditioned barrels are ones that offer the freshness and good wood characteristics that a new barrel can offer," he said. "To achieve this you must remove all the wine-soaked material prior to re-toasting.…Shaving French oak barrels that have been properly milled, (quartered, split, straight grain) helps because the depth of wine in a quality milled stave is less than a stave that's been sawn, therefore allowing you to remove more of the wine-soaked wood by shaving." Butler said that because a 250-year-old tree only yields five barrels' worth of stave material, reusing barrels is a sustain- able process. "Reconditioning is definitely a responsible process but currently produces limited oak characteristics, and any flaw is simply scrutinized." Barrels with a 'like new' flavor ReCoop, an operation located outside Sebastopol, Calif., has been reconditioning barrels for more than 25 years. Lori Marie Adams, the director of sales and marketing, described the refinished bar- rels as providing a "like new" component to a barrel program rather than an equivalent replacement to purchasing new oak. But for about one-fourth the cost of a new French oak barrel, the reconditioning service is a money saver. And, she stressed, reconditioning barrels is far more sustainable than just retiring them. "You're doubling the life of the barrel," she said. Production foreman Jay Vesco said he's been with ReCoop for 10 years and in wine production for 20 years. To demonstrate ReCoop's system, Vesco lifted a barrel onto a set of rollers, and with a handheld remote centered the shaving apparatus in a barrel with its heads removed. Vesco laid down the shaver and Phil Burton of Barrel Builders says barrels should be less than five years old, clean and in good condition to be reconditioned. Highlights • reconditioning barrels can provide new oak flavors at an afford- able price, but it's possible that re-toasting shaved barrels can lead to off or cooked flavors. • Barrels need to be in sound, clean condition prior to getting shaved for reuse. • Suppliers will recondition a winery's old barrels or sell used bar- rels they have reconditioned. guided it back and forth along he length of the staves, rotating the barrel after each pass of the shaving mechanism. He said the ReCoop machine could remove 1/ 4-, 3/8- or 5/8 of an inch, depending on the condition of the barrel and what the client wants. The shaver or grinder uses a set of spinning wheels, and depending on the nature of the wood ReCoop could apply all four sets of teeth or just two. Adams said the company's patented process ensures "that all wine-penetrated wood is removed while maintaining the wood's integrity and allowing the stave to once again contribute its flavor and oxygenation benefits." The hydraulic-powered shaver removed a layer of saturated wood in less than a few minutes. Vesco made it look easy, but he said it took some practice getting used to guiding the shaver. He added that he knows to watch for cracks or blisters that could lead to a cracked stave during shaving. "We've got it down to a beautiful science," he said. "It's not a cut-and-dry situation; you never know what you're going to get. Every barrel is different." Once the barrel is shaved, Vesco said he uses a hand planer for the final details such as the croze (the groove at the end of staves where the head attaches) before hoisting the barrels up onto racks and then toasting with a set of infrared burners. Vesco said he can toast to medium, medium-plus and heavy, and the fabulous aromatics released by the wood are perks of toast- ing. "Some American barrels smell delicious; they pop out with flavors of cherry and vanilla," he said. "It makes you want to eat it, it smells that good." Adams said the ReCoop shaving process is better for the bar- rel, as the shaver travels with the grain of the barrel staves. She said the majority of her sales come from reconditioning barrels, although the company also buys old barrels, reconditions them and sells them. Wineries in Europe, South Africa, China, New Wines & Vines JULY 2012 45