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WI ne MAKI n G The major difference between stainless tanks and stainless barrels is, of course, size. Barrique-sized stainless barrels are nicely suited for overflow storage, very small batches, yeast trials (without the influ- ence of oak), blending components and storage of topping wine. The chances of accidental oxygen exposure are less than with small-scale, variable top tanks. And they fit on existing barrel racks. In some cases, stainless and poly barrels may even be "greener" than oak. Graduating to plastics The plastic—or, more properly, polyethylene—barrel report is in most ways similar to the stainless story. Polyethylene containers, in barrel and small-tank sizes, are easier to clean, happy to in- corporate oak adjuncts, non-evaporative, longer lasting and less expensive over the long haul. In addition, they come in a variety of space-efficient, stackable shapes and sizes and accommodate a wide range of openings and fittings. The combination of plastic and wine still creeps out some folks in the wine industry. But any potential problems of flavor taint were solved by the packaging industry for food and beverage purposes long before plastic wine containers began to appear. If millions of gallons of wine can now get packaged successfully in plastic bags- in-boxes, and if hundreds of thousands of home winemakers can use food-grade trash cans as fermentors every year, polyethylene is surely ready for prime time in wine storage. Schütz in New Jersey, Pasco Poly in Idaho and Flextank in Atlanta are among the major suppliers of plastic wine storage in various sizes. More than 1,000 U.S. wineries have started using Flextank products since 2006. The company does a good proportion of its business in barrel-sized containers and emphasizes that its materi- als can do one thing stainless barrels can't: let in a little bit of air. Flextank offers two thicknesses of polyethylene walls: The "matu- ration weight" performs similarly to second-year barrels, and the heavyweight acts more like neutral barrels. Following this logic, the heavyweight products are best suited for aromatic whites and the maturation weight for wines designed to develop through planned oxidation. Flextank CEO John Smeaton estimates that the matura- tion containers allow in about 17 milligrams of oxygen per liter per year, compared to 20-30 milligrams from new oak barrels. Even if that permeability gets us closer to the traditional oak bar- rel, poly barrels aren't going to take over the industry. Like stainless, they are primarily used for small batches, blending components, tri- als, topping wine and so on, though in some cases, smaller wineries may rely on them heavily for economic and space reasons. Mostly, what we have is more peaceful coexistence. Stainless and poly barrels aren't the revolution that stainless tanks and fermen- tors were, but they have a definite place in winery operations large and small. They work, they get clean, they can save some money and, in some cases, they may even be "greener" than oak. Tim Patterson is the author of the newly released Home Winemaking for Dummies. He writes about wine and makes his own in Berkeley, Calif. Years of experience as a journalist, combined with a contrarian streak, make him interested in getting to the bottom of wine stories, casting a critical eye on conventional wisdom in the process. Wines & Vines APRiL 2011 53