Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/724494
w w w. v w m m e d i a . c o m S e p t - O c t 2 016 | V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T 3 3 n the age of the New World, sailing across the Atlantic on a wooden ship was risky busi- ness. Even more so for wine. Months of storage in a cask of unknown or questionable history could result in undesirable aromas, flavors or even spoilage. Sailors used whatever casks they had on hand. "It turns out whiskey or spirit barrels were the most successful at preserving wine," says Sharon Roeder, owner and winemaker at Barrel Oak Winery in Delaplane, Va. "The higher alcohol levels seeped from the wood and killed any spoil- age yeasts and bacteria, so the wine retained its flavor." Fast forward roughly 100 years. It's no surprise that before the American wine industry burgeoned, used spirit barrels were all home winemakers could get their hands from a home winemaker. Vasilakes eventually warmed to the concept and, in 2007, tried it by aging Cab- ernet Sauvignon for a full year, also in Woodford Reserve bourbon bar- rels. "I really didn't have much hope for it, but I loved the result. It imparts a whole other layer of complexity to the wine by adding body, smoothing it out and adding different and stronger flavors," says Vasi- lakes. So he named his exper- iment Black Barrel Reserve and sold it. "I put it on the market and people went crazy. It sold right away, so I started making more." BECOMING MAINSTREAM Roeder and Vasilakes were at the leading edge of a spirit-aging resur- gence. Since then, the amateur stigma of aging in anything other than wine barrels has faded. In fact, blurring lines between the alcoholic beverage indus- tries happens regularly. Beer, wine, cider and spirit influences are popping up in each others' turf. Brew m a s t e r s , w i n e m a k e r s , cider makers and master distillers experiment both as a creative outlet and to stimulate customer imagi- nation. After his success with Black Barrel Reserve, Vasi- lakes experimented with two other bourbon-aged wines, a semi-sweet port- on. These barrels were either free or dirt cheap, plentiful and easy to obtain with a road trip to the near- est distillery. Home winemakers simply followed in the footsteps of their ocean-crossing predeces- sors. But during the 1970s and '80s, when the commercial wine industry began to flour- ish, spirit barrel aging devel- oped an amateur stigma. A typical commercial winemaker wouldn't have considered aging in anything but a wine barrel — which makes experi- mental winemakers, like Roed- er, all the more provocative. "We really wanted a port- style wine, and using bourbon barrels was a unique way to include additional back- ground flavor," says Roed- er. In 2008, Barrel Oak produced its first vintage of Chocolate Lab, a forti- fied Chambourcin aged eight months in Wood- f o r d R e s e r v e b o u r b o n barrels. It was met with overwhelmingly positive customer reactions. "Our tasting room staff repeat- edly reports it's loved by e v e r y o n e , e v e n t h o s e who don't prefer dessert wines," says Roeder. Another vintner, Neil Va s i l a k e s o f W i l d s i d e Winery in Versailles, Ky., c r i n g e d w h e n h e f i r s t heard of spirit barrel aging BY JANICE CESSNA + Spirit barrels have a long history in winemaking and are seeing a resurgence in popularity. + Cross-use of barrels between the wine, beer, cider and spirits industries is happening all over. + Bourbon barrels are especially popular. + Obtaining spirit barrels from a reputable source is important. AT A GLANCE Barrel Oak's Chocolate Lab, a fortified Chambourcin, is aged eight months in Wood- ford Reserve bourbon barrels. Aging wine in spirit barrels is surging in popularity, bringing innovation to the cellar.