The Life Cycle of a Wine Barrel

Wine Barrels are created from a distinct type of wood. White Oak. This wood is chosen to lend it's unique qualities to the wine it will hold. The white oak varies the color, texture, flavor, and tannin profile of the wine. The characteristic of the oak can have a profound effect on the wine.

Aging in oak imparts vanilla, butter and spice flavors to the wine. As the wine ages so does the wood of the barrel. The barrel retains the colorization from the wine, which creates unique staining patterns in the wood. No two barrels are ever the same because of this.

All that wine has to go somewhere. After one to two years the barrel is opened and the wine is bottled. The barrel is then cleaned and maintained for the next use. A single barrel can usually be used two to three times before it becomes neutral. Meaning it no longer imparts any flavor to the wine.

So what happens to the wine barrel after it has been emptied for the last time? Because the oak barrels used for aging wine are so expensive, each barrel costing upwards of $800, they are often used for several more years for blending and mellowing.

Once the barrel is no longer useful to the wine maker it is sold. The oak wood, seasoned and aged with the wine, makes for some truly amazing finished wood. A skilled carpenter can then use that wood in numerous ways to create unique one-of-a-kind furniture pieces. Which is exactly what we do here at Wine Barrel Furniture Guy!