More cleaning...

When it comes to pressing this years Pinot Noir part of the job is to prepare the barrels in order to receive the new wine. The wine will be in the barrel for the best part of a year so they need to be in good shape. The barrels previously held last years wine of course but have been empty for the last couple of months. Empty but they had been sulphured in order to protect them against any unwanted bacteria and so now need to be cleaned.

We clean them using the barrel washer shown above. A thin washer arm extends inside the barrel to the very bottom. About halfway down high pressure water is sprayed to all parts of the barrel and is then sucked back out the green hose via a vacuum ball at the end of the arm. All very efficient. I then fill the barrels with water to stand overnight just to reswell any stave's which may have opened as the wood dried when the barrel was empty. Once drained, the barrel is then ready to receive the new wine which will stay there for the best part of a year as it matures and develops.