218: The Barrel Management Episode
About this episode
Jim Duane discusses the management and maintenance of empty barrels in winemaking.
In this solo episode of Inside Winemaking, Jim tackles one of the questions he gets most often: how to manage empty barrels. Working through the full lifecycle of a barrel, Jim covers receiving and inspecting new barrels on arrival, keeping them hydrated before harvest (his go-to: shrink-wrap them tight and lock the moisture in), and recovering barrels that have dried out. He walks through swelling and leak-testing before filling, the realities of finding and repairing leaks with spiles, and smart practices for stacking, filling, and leaving proper ullage for young wines still off-gassing CO2. From there, Jim gets into cleaning and sanitizing — why an immediate rinse matters, where he lands on tartrates, and his candid take on the trade-offs between burning sulfur, SO2 gas, ozone, and steam. He closes with short-, medium-, and long-term storage strategies, how often to recharge sulfur based on cellar conditions, and how to tell when a barrel is truly done. Practical, opinionated, and grounded in real cellar experience, this episode is a field guide for anyone trying to keep their empty barrels healthy between fills. This podcast is sponsored by InnoVint . Wineries of all sizes…
Sponsors
InnoVint
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