Steve Rosenblatt, CEO of Sonoma Cast Stone, the manufacturers of Concrete NuBarrel™, is on a mission to demonstrate the superiority of his product over oak barrels in an industry steeped in tradition.
He appears to be succeeding.
“Concrete has become the darling of high-end wines everywhere,” In Europe Rosenblatt attests, upwards of 80 percent of premium wine is now being made in concrete. He says that interest in the U.S. is growing, and attributes the shift to innovative products like that of his concrete NuBarrel™.
The Sonoma Cast Stone design team carefully studied the traditional dependence on costly oak barrels and determined that a smart barrel can reproduce the tannins, color and taste of an oak barrel and at the same time reduce the cost and increase the winemaker or cellar master’s control over the aging process. The NuBarrel™ is perfect for the growing trend of un-oaked chardonnay. If oak is desired the vessels can be outfitted with either an immersion sleeve, filled with oak cubes or chips for subtle oak influence, or a full stave rack for extensive oak flavoring. In this way, the tank design gives the winemaker complete control over the desired level of oak character imparted to the wine. When complete, the oak tube or rack can be easily removed with the wine left, undistributed in this concrete tank.
“The winemaker has so much more control with a NuBarrel™ than with traditional oak,” Rosenblatt points out. “All of our products are handcrafted, and yet very high-tech. Unlike other concrete tanks, all of our fermenting and storage tanks are fully guaranteed not to crack or leak for ten years. When properly managed these tanks will last up to four decades. This could be a savings of over a million dollars a year for a moderate size winery.
Concrete NuBarrels™ hold 240 gallons each, four times the amount of a standard, 60-gallon oak barrel. Engineered with an eye toward maximizing cellar storage, NuBarrels™ occupy the space of just one and one-half oak barrels, with quadruple the juice capacity.
Micro oxygenation occurs naturally but uncontrollably in oak barrels. To give this same result, the NuBarrel™ has a stainless steel sparging stone that can give the exact amount of oxygen when needed, to the aging wine.
Each Concrete NuBarrel™ can have a temperature gauge and fluid level monitor, which can be connected to a cell phone and alert the cellar and winemaking team if something in the tank is amiss.
Concrete NuBarrels stack in pairs, with a capacity of eight barrels, bolt together and can be attached to a concrete floor, providing maximum stability in the cellar. The design was tested at the University of California Berkeley earthquake testing center and has exceeded all standards, both free-standing and bolted down.
Small wineries and large wineries with overflow or small, experimental lots can use the NuBarrel™ as a concrete fermenter. Winemakers who are anxious to try their grapes in increasingly popular concrete will find that it is an ideal tank for both the making and aging of both red and white wines.
Sonoma Cast Stone is so confident of its product that it is the only manufacturer to offer a ten-year warranty against structural cracking or leaking of its concrete tanks. Expensive oak barrels last an average of four years. With adequate care, concrete tanks could last 40 years, bringing that cost down dramatically.
“So there you have it,” said Rosenblatt, “a new idea. A smart tank that gives wineries huge financial savings in both barrel replacement and storage space, while at the same time much more control over the aging process than ever before. The trick is getting winemakers to step away from tradition to try these out. As we like to say, it’s time to rethink the barrel.”
