WRITTEN BY: SAM COOPER

Love fortified wine? Do you wish you had some on tap back at home? S&K can help. We offer a wide range of home barrels and blending fortified supplies to help you create your perfect fortified blend at home. With a home barrel, you can enjoy the taste of Rutherglen long after your visit. Whether you're a special occasion sipper or a die-hard slurper, owning a home barrel begins an exciting journey full of experimenting, sipping, swishing, spitting, testing and waiting. It's all part of handcrafting and perfecting a unique fortified blend that you can sip, enjoy and brag about with great satisfaction.

At Stanton & Killeen we pride ourselves on our range, knowledge and service of all things home barrels. While we supply you with a great base material to work with, it's up to you to create your dream fortified blend. Whether you prefer a bright and lively Muscat, a caramelised Topaque or a fragrant warm-spiced Tawny, with time and patience, anything is possible.

SO, WHAT IS A HOME BARREL?

A home barrel is a way to replicate what we do here at the winery, at home. You can develop a unique fortified blend over time that reflects your preferred style on a smaller scale. At S&K, we have teamed up with Master Cooper, Andrew Young, of the Barossa Valley, to create a range of home barrels of the highest quality and craftsmanship.

WHY DO WE USE OAK BARRELS?

An oak barrel allows the fortified water content to slowly evaporate through the wood, concentrating the flavours as the wine slowly oxidises in the barrel. This process changes the colour and flavour and stabilises the wine, so there will be no further change once bottled. Unlike table wines, we do not want to withdraw any oak character but instead use the barrel as an aging/storage vessel.

BARREL SEASONING

New Barrels - Our barrels are pre-seasoned at the winery using the following process;

• Hot washing – This will clean any leftover wood particles in the barrel.

• Swelling with hot water – This will swell the barrel to ensure the hoops are in place and no leaks in the barrel itself.

• Filled with young fortified – This will begin the seasoning process. The longer a barrel seasons at S&K, the better. By seasoning the barrel, we are withdrawing as much oak character from the barrel as possible so that when you get the barrel home and fill it with your choice of new, fresh fortified, there is less chance of your barrel taking on too much oak in its first years.

Existing Barrels:Barrels still need to be monitored to ensure they don't become too 'oaky'. Should you notice that they are becoming more 'oaky' than you like (less is best!), you need to top up with fresh material. It doesn't hurt to withdraw 10- 20% into glass bottles and then top up with fresh fortified. By doing this, you will keep a good "aged base material" and get a good hit of freshness in your wine. You can slowly introduce the withdrawn wine over time.

BARREL STORAGE

We do not recommend storing your barrel near a direct heat source, such as an oven, heater, or fireplace - anywhere else in the home would be suitable. Unlike red wine barrels, a cool environment is not necessary.

BLENDING TIPS

If you want to drink now - choose your preferred fortified and barrel size and top-up as you consume, ideally not getting below 2/3 full - to retain moisture in the wood and avoid drying your barrel out.

If you want to age and mature your wine - maintain 2/3 full to develop age base material. Add fresh material as required. It's an ongoing task that requires continuous tasting and monitoring. We would recommend signing up to our Barrel Club and taking advantage of our free testing service for advice and assistance.

As a general rule in winemaking, you should not blend different fortified varieties (e.g. Muscat and Topaque, Muscat and Tawny). However, this is all down to personal taste. If combined using the correct ratio, a Muscat and Topaque or Topaque and White Fortified blend can be interesting and delicious! We always recommend completing a "test blend" in a glass before pouring anything into your barrel.

Like any wine, fortified wine is a living thing – it will continue to change over time. These changes are more significant in fortified wines because the wine is not confined to a bottle but interacts with the atmosphere. We offer a free annual assessment of your wines for Barrel Club members and can recommend replacement material and correction of sulphite levels. 

For more information please contact us at the winery, we're always happy to chat home barrels with our customers.