When I'm not at my desk writing, I like to explore. Being a cooper and now living in Europe. I am finding fascinating bits of information about how wooden barrels, tanks, and casks have been and are being used. Here are some of the more intriguing items I have come across:
NEWSLETTERS
Oval Wine Tanks
Having a brother and sister-in-law who enjoy food and wine is great. She, being an excellent photographer, emails me photos of what they have experienced and seen. Recently, they visited wineries in the eastern French wine region of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, along the southern Rhone River. Here is a photo she sent of six elegant oval oak casks sitting quietly in one of the winery caves.
Oak wine casks (Photo: Tara Wolff)
What's In a Name?
This is The Algarve, Portugal’s southern coastal region, is dotted with many inviting beaches. Flat, with broad sands fronting calm seas, they are perfect for the many northern European tourists who visit. One of these spots is Praia do Barril. It’s located in the eastern Algarve between Tavira and Olhão. As the Portuguese word for barrel is barril, I wondered what this beach might have had to do with wooden barrels.paragraph about your business. Let your visitors know who you are, what you do and what your website is all about.
The many fishermen needed to haul in the net and bring the tuna on to the boats.(Photo courtesy of Vila Galé Albacora Tuna Museum.)
Port Wine
The Douro River, famed for its port wines, originates in Spain before wending its way west through Portugal. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean at the adjacent cities of Porto, and Vila Nova de Gaia, just to south across the river. On much of the Douro's banks, narrow terraces, hand-built of the local flat-faced shist stone, step up the steep hillsides. There the grapes to make both port and still wines are grown. A visit to the region this past winter was extremely enlightening; learning about how the ports are made and the important role that the wooden barrels play.
In the Cellar
...Another Sherry Dear?
​Andalusia, situated in Spain's southwest corner, is a cultural hub centred around the cities of Sevilla, Cordoba, Granada and Ronda. Their citizens celebrate flamenco dancing to the sounds of guitars, salt-cured ham, and hundreds of years of history, all lubricated by the wonderful sherry produced there.
And that sherry-producing region is located just 50 kilometres south of Sevilla, adjacent to the Gulf of Cadiz. It's enclosed by three ancient cities with romantic names; Jerez de la Frontera at the northeast corner, Sanlúcar de Barrameda at the western apex, and El Puerto de Santa Maria to the southeast. There, the vineyards, heated by long sunny days and nourished in the white albariza chalk soils, produce several varieties of crisp white grapes. But it is in the barrels, termed pipes, in which the unique flor yeast grows, transforming these grapes from wine to sherry. This mass of fungus, enhanced by the maritime climate, sits atop the wine in the headspace left in the barrel. Besides protecting the wine from oxidizing, through its biochemical reactions, it creates sherry's enchanting flavours and aromas.