# The Effect of Small Barrel Aging on SO2 levels



## ibglowin (Apr 14, 2011)

So I have two kits that had their turn in a 23L Vadai and are coming up on bottling time.

One is a CC Rosso Fortisimo Super Tuscan and the other is a MM AJ Petite Syrah that I added a CC Syrah grape pack.

Barrel tasting on both of these were incredible. Lets hope they continue to age well.

One had 8 weeks in the Vadai and the other had 12 weeks.

These both got the initial package of Sulfite when fined and stabilized that should have brought it up to 40ppm free SO2.

Both have been stoppered in the Carboy when not in the Barrel.

Both were tested for free SO2 levels this week at about 7 months bulk age.

The Rosso Fortisimo had a level of 16ppm (8 weeks in barrel)

The MM AJ Petite Syrah had a level of 10ppm (12 weeks in barrel)

Other kits I have bulk aged in the same fashion only w/o the barrel time have only dropped to 30ppm and thus no additional SO2 was required at bottling.

I used the handy Sulphite Calculator over at Winemaker magazine to bump me back up to ~30ppm which was corrected for the pH of the wine.

Just wanted to show you how much O2 is let in and free SO2 used up in a short period of time in a small barrel which has a higher than normal wine to surface area contact ratio. :>


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## chachi44089 (Apr 14, 2011)

Thats pretty good info to know. I plan to get a couple small "5 gal." barrels some day to age in. The porous wood must allow more o2 transfer than I ever would have thought. I definitely need to get some testing equipment before attemting barrel ageing. I should have them anyways and get used to testing my wine. That will be my next purchase "testing supplies". And I told my wife that this is a very cheap hobby..lol.. I am already up to several hundred dollars worth of supplies. Its just so addicting!!


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## roblloyd (Apr 14, 2011)

But many bottles have you made vs paying $15 each in the store?
That's how I look at it. And they last a long time. Not sure i would call it an in investment but ya need your tools!


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## joea132 (Apr 14, 2011)

That goes to show the micro-oxygenation you get in a barrel versus glass. That seems to be the big catch phrase in big reds today.


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