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Vessels 101: Concrete
If you’ve ever done a tasting at a winery, chances are someone was telling you about how each bottle was made, and that some spent time in oak, some 100% in stainless steel others maybe in some concrete egg thing. Are these just talking points to fill time or make the person behind the bar sound smart? Nope. It all matters. And below I’m going to explain why with a few of the most common vessels used to ferment and age wine.
Wine can really be fermented and aged in almost anything. But over the years, a few vessels have proved themselves to be most effective because of convenience or what they add to the finished wine. And although these vessels will be discussed separately, in practice winemakers typically blend wine from a few of these vessels to bring certain aspects of each to the finished wine.
The point of this page is to give you an understanding of how each vessel affects wine, so that when presented with this information on a bottle, you will be able to not only understand why they were used, but be able to predict what flavors may be expected in that wine.
So first, let’s take a look at the most common vessels, and how they affect each wine.
Concrete
Why is concrete used?
Concrete offers an option that is sort of in between oak and steel.
Like the stainless steel tanks, it does not impart any additional flavors to the wine, which maintains its freshness and offers a pure representation. But like oak, it is actually semi-porous, so micro-oxygenation does take place to help soften and round out wines the same way barrels do. On top of that, the thick walls of the tanks mean temperature is much more easily regulated, in contrast to the thin walls of a stainless steel tank.
These tanks are actually a nod to the past where the Romans used concrete and stone vats to ferment their wine. They are of course super durable, and as mentioned above, maintain temperature very well which is both good for energy consumption, and also allows for better predictability.
The really cool aspect of these, is that they can be built using materials found in the ground specific to the vineyard site. This means that the wines will be fermented and aged in all natural materials, maintaining and even stronger connection to the terroir.
What’s with the egg shape?
These tanks can come in all shapes and sizes from squares to giant rectangular towers, but the egg is probably the most fascinating.
During fermentation, the wine heats up due to the heat released by the yeast. Without getting too deep into the science of it, this creates currents which can circulate the liquid from the bottom to the top. Because of the egg shape, this means the wine continuously circulates from the bottom to the top, and then back down the sides and repeats without getting stuck in corners like standard tanks.
This stirring is good because it naturally mixes the wine which would normally have to be done manually using punch-downs or pump-overs. It also helps mix in the spent yeast cells after fermentation to help distribute that doughy flavor that is usually achieved manually through battonnage (the mixing of yeast in the wine while its aging).
Conclusion
Concrete tanks bridge the gap between oak and stainless steel, while offering a long lasting, relatively cheap option for long term aging.
It’s unlikely that you’ll be able to detect the use of concrete in a wine as you would if oak were used, but it can definitely help shape the final product while bringing a pretty interesting connection to the past.
Click below to explore other vessels.