BARRELS OF CRAIGSLIST FUN.
When I read the words "Wine Barrel For Sale" I tried desperately to ignore it. And by 'tried desperately" I mean I immediately asked Hannah if I could buy it. I've looked into barrels before. Used oak barrels are not cheap––generally around $100-$150, and that's not including shipping––so $40 was a pretty enticing price tag. Once she gave me the OK, I gave the guy a call and the next thing I knew I was coming home with a beautiful, fifty- something gallon wine barrel once used.The man who owned the barrel used to work for Woodford Reserve "before the 2009 layoffs." Apparently Woodford had purchased hundreds of used barrels from "Sonoma Cutter" which I'm pretty sure means Sonoma Cutrer, the makers of a commercially popular chardonnay. Producers like that typically use these barrels for one year to suck all of the oaky flavor out of them and then they sell them or find other uses. Woodford purchased a number of these uncharred barrels to make a special batch of Sonoma Cutrer whiskey. They poured two bottles of wine into each barrel of whiskey and let it age for a year. The barrel I bought today was a leftover, thankfully never used in the batch and thus never tainted by the whiskey. He had bought it when Woodford decided they didn't need it anymore and never used it himself so he decided to get rid of it. That's when he got a call from your's truly.I have no immediate intentions for this barrel, though I've dreamt of plenty of possibilities. I've imagined it as a rain barrel in the garden with a hose running out of the bottom. Or it would make a good table, a piece of glass fixed to the top and maybe an umbrella. Even a life as a container in which to stir biodynamic preparations would be a worthy use, but nothing trumps my want for it to fulfill its destiny as a wine barrel and fill it with bubbling fruit juice. It might not be soon, and it might not be ever, but if the opportunity ever arises and fifty gallons of wine present themselves, I'll finally have a place to put them for a couple of years. No matter what, it'll make a pretty excellent addition to the farm.- Jesse.
