BARREL FEVER

Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Get Out of The Cellar

As we prepare for harvest here at the winery, it would look as though we were plagued
with barrel fever. Last years’ barrels have been emptied for bottle aging as the
winemaking staff is steadily cleaning and steaming the older barrels in preparation for
the newest vintage to be harvested, fermented and stored for roughly 11 months. Nothing
is quite as luscious as the smell of the warm, steaming barrels — the heat combined with
the oak and leftover pinot flavors create an earthy and intoxicating aroma; I could stand
in the fermentation room for hours absorbing the sweet, humid fragrance. At the same
time our winemakers and interns are making room for new medium-toast barrels that
have come in to help in the storing process.
Pinot Noir is stored in barrels for close to a full year, therefore it is imperative to know
where the barrels come from and to choose wisely which clones will be housed in each
particular vessel. One-third of our barrels are new and all of them made from French oak.
Oak imparts flavors into the wine — though French oak is a bit more delicate than
American, which is sweeter with more vanilla overtones. Flavor notes that are
commonly picked up from wines exposed to French oak include caramel, cream,
smoke, spice and vanilla. Due to the porous nature of oak, up to 6½ gallons of wine
can evaporate allowing the flavor and aroma of the wine in barrel to concentrate.
The loss is often referred to as The Angels Share.
French oak is seasoned for years, whereas American oak is often dried in a kiln.
The French oak trees grow in centuries-old forests before harvesting even begins. Dense,
cool-climate woodlands give the trees time to mature slowly, creating a tighter grain in
the wood. The coopers are then able to split the wood along natural grain rather than saw
it, like American coopers do.
 Some wines, like Cabernet Sauvignon spend more than a year in barrel while
some varietals, like Rioja, can age for up to a decade. But not our lovely Pinot Noir.
We have a French winemaker who believes in the philosophies of French
winemaking, and why shouldn’t he — the French have worked to perfect the art of
oenology for centuries. Pinot is customarily bottled on the young-side, after a short
aging cycle in the barrel, whereas a Spanish Rioja might age completely in barrel and
then be bottled afterward.
With new barrels delivered and mature barrels clean, we await our next
harvest in a few short weeks when the sun has helped our grapes mature and the fog
has prevented the sugars from accelerating. The clusters will be hand-picked, hand-
sorted, bathed in cool waters, treaded by foot and left to ferment for nearly two weeks.
The tanks will be drained, the sediment pressed. The juice will be transferred for a
years’ slumber into oak, housed in crisp cellars for its winters rest. In roughly two
years, the juice will be consumed over great conversation, a great meal and even
better company who will swirl and sniff and sip to their hearts content.

http://www.emeritusvineyards.com