I was eight years old when Falcon Crest first aired on TV. The vineyards, drama and romance kept the show alive for nine seasons but not once did you ever see the lighter side of winery life. Now that would make good television.
It's time to start thinking about barrels for the 2008 crush, and the first thing winemaker Mike does is soak up the empty barrels - if they can hold water, they can hold wine. Barrels are a valuable tool in the winemaking process for two to three years. When the flavors from the oak are extracted, they become neutral storage. After wine is moved from the barrel to the bottle, empty barrels often sit for a few months - enough time for the wood to contract and cause water to rush out between the staves. To ensure a quality product, every year we replace 30 percent of our inventory with a combination of new French and American oak barrels, ranging in cost from $400 to well over a thousand dollars each.
The barrel pictured eventually soaked up and we'll be using it one more season, along with two hundred and something other barrels. Those that didn't soak up this year will likely retire to someone's garden.
