Wine in a barrel

[wineview]

I have some thoughts on this topic but would like to hear what all of you have to say.

My brother in law just returned from a month in Tuscany. Although he suffers from gerd and has not had any wine in 10 years, he was able to drink this Italian wine every night. His belief is that the wine was young, contained no sulphites and was never bottled but rather drawn from a barrel and served in a carafe. Is it possible to draw wine from a barrel without it eventually spoiling? He asked me if he could have a barrel of wine in his home and draw a glass every now and then. I’ve had Italian neighbors who made wine in 50 gallon barrels and as the level of wine went down, it tasted more and more like vinegar.

 

[David Engel]

Im a newbie but everything I’ve ever read would support the wine would spoil with all that increased air headspace. And perhaps the more surface of wine exposed to air would speed up the spoilage process?

 

[Cap Puncher]

I have some thoughts on this topic but would like to hear what all of you have to say.

My brother in law just returned from a month in Tuscany. Although he suffers from gerd and has not had any wine in 10 years, he was able to drink this Italian wine every night. His belief is that the wine was young, contained no sulphites and was never bottled but rather drawn from a barrel and served in a carafe. Is it possible to draw wine from a barrel without it eventually spoiling? He asked me if he could have a barrel of wine in his home and draw a glass every now and then. I’ve had Italian neighbors who made wine in 50 gallon barrels and as the level of wine went down, it tasted more and more like vinegar.

That will spoil a barrel and the wine especially without sulfites. Keep your barrels topped up and the proper sulfite levels would be my recommendation.

I have heard of Italians using an old school method of using olive oil on top of their wine in the barrel to keep oxygen from getting to the surface. Maybe that is what they were doing? Probably will keep the wine fine, but I would not want it in my barrel.

Also, GERD can be exacerbated by all different things in different people. It could be that it is a certain varietal that he is more sensitive to or one with higher acid levels, higher tannin levels , low pH, high alcohol. Maybe he just tolerated the Italian varietals better. I highly doubt sulfites cause the issue or bottling vs in the barrel. As a GERD sufferer and pharmacist, I can tell you most wine I am fine with, there is a small subset that will cause me issues.