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Toasting

The process now used worldwide in the production of barrique barrels was allegedly "invented" by chance in France. Wine producers near the sea (also) used herring barrels from fishermen and tried to remove the undesirable fish odour in the wood by brushing or planing it out. When this did not lead to a satisfactory result, the barrels were burnt out on the inside. Today, this is known as toasting or barrel branding of the inner barrel walls of barrique barrels. As a rule, the two barrel bottoms are usually not toasted, as this is very time-consuming. However, this also depends on the barrique manufacturer or the customer's (winemaker's) wishes.

Production process

Toasting takes place, for example, over an open oak fire, using a gas burner or, more recently, with infrared heat. This achieves a heat of 200 to 250 °Celsius. The duration and intensity of the fire determine the degree of toasting: 10 to 15 minutes for wines, 15 to 20 minutes for spirits(cognac, rum, whisky, etc.). A very strong toasting causes charring and is therefore referred to as charring. The wood is altered to a depth of two millimetres (light) to four millimetres (heavy). After toasting, the barrique barrel is moulded into its final shape. It is filled with water to soften the smoky flavour. The water drained after some time is completely yellow in colour.

Barriquefass - Toastinggrade

Toasting flavours

The toasted barrique barrels impart additional flavours to the wine during barrique ageing. The weaker the degree of toasting, the more ingredients are transferred from the oak wood into the wine. Such wines taste "wood-accentuated". In contrast, wines from heavily toasted barrels taste more like toast and spices. Some individual substances are only formed during the roasting process. One of these is the phenol aldehyde vanillin, which is produced by the breakdown of lignin. Depending on the degree of toasting, certain substances are increased or reduced in proportion. For example, lactones (coconut flavour) tend to be reduced with stronger toasting. In any case, this gives the wine a more or less pronounced, unmistakable toasted flavour (wood tone). Heavily toasted barrels can also produce a smoky flavour. A negative aspect of toasting - especially with medium - is the increase in acetic acid content (mainly acetic acid esters) in the wood. There are the following degrees of toasting (see also the picture above):

In the past, toasting was mainly or almost exclusively used for barrique barrels (225 to 500 litres). In recent years, there has been a renaissance of the large wooden barrel. In connection with this, toasting is also offered for large storage barrels. For red wines in particular, the 1,200 litre (single) and 2,400 litre (double) volumes are used almost exclusively with toasting. However, due to the significantly larger volume in relation to the surface area, toasted large wooden barrels are also suitable for ageing certain white wines. In contrast to the classic barrique barrels, which are usually (or have to be) disposed of after three uses, the large wooden barrels are still used for economic reasons.

Further information

For the production of alcoholic beverages, see Champagne (sparkling wines), distillation (distillates), spirits (types), winemaking (wines and wine types) and wine law (wine law issues).

Barrique barrel: By Gerard Prins - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link

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