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| Category: Culinary terms and techniques |
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Wine Barrels | ||
 Wine barrels, especially those made of oak, have long been used as containers in which wine is aged. Barrels are constructed in cooperages with wood that is purchased at auction houses. The use of wine barrels (especially oak barrels) to store and age wine is a century's old tradition. Wooden Wine Barrels also allow for a small amount of evaporation of the contents during the aging period.
French Oak was considered especially desirable wood for making wine barrels for many years. History: In Europe in ancient times liquids like oil and wine were carried in vessels, for instance amphora, sealed with pine resin. The Romans began to use barrels in the 3rd century AD, as a result of their commercial and military contacts with the Gauls, who had been making barrels for several centuries. For nearly 2,000 years barrels were the most convenient form of shipping or storage container for those who could afford the superior price. Wine can also be fermented in large wooden tanks, often called "open-tops" because they are open to the atmosphere. Other wooden cooperage for storing wine or spirits are called "casks", and they are large (up to thousands of gallons) with either elliptical or round heads. |