First, the barrels are “opened,” meaning the heads are removed and set aside. This will allow us to thoroughly clean the inside of the barrel.

With both proprietary tools and an artisan’s touch, we sand the outside of the barrel for aesthetics, then begin removing the saturated wood inside the barrel. This removes the color, sugars and dissolved solids and exposes fresh wood fibers. The end result looks nearly identical to a brand new barrel, or often with a more “finished” look.

After shaving, the barrel goes to the toasting room, where the real magic happens. By thoroughly heating the barrels to a minimum of over 200F throughout the staves (up to 380F in the interior), we vaporize all remaining VOCs and any biologicals. We achieve the requested toast levels with both the intensity of the heat and the duration of the exposure-it’s art and science.

After toasting, it’s time to close the barrel up. Since the head go through a different shaving and toasting/sterilization process, they need to be refitted to their specific barrel. They are then placed back into the croze, a tricky maneuver that takes lots of practice to get just right!

Once the barrel is sealed up and the hoops are pressed down tight, it’s time for hydration. Every barrel that come through Rewine get filled to the brim, then left for 24 hours to ensure that it is water tight. As the oak absorbs water, it swells up and plugs most gaps (which is pretty neat to observe). Any remaining leaks get corrected by our expert team of barrel surgeons.

Once the barrels are hydrated, they just need a few final touches before we’re ready to send them on their way. This includes nailing the hoops into the barrel, stamping the date and toast level, gassing with sulfur dioxide, and wrapping in plastic to preserve moisture content. We also offer extra sanding and end hoops for that showroom quality look at a very reasonable price. After that, they’re loaded into the truck and on their way to you!