Production Guide: Barrel Management: Best Practices

Introduction

The use of oak barrels in the winery is often desirable by many winemakers. Nonetheless, many winery operations do not adequately plan the cellar for proper barrel operations. Barrels, whether stored new, in-use (filled with wine), or in between wine fills, require specific environmental conditions to maintain barrel integrity and flavor. Often, this correlates to temperature and humidity controls necessary to keep the wood, and the wines stored in barrel, in good condition.