What does the wine industry owe to Cuba, Missouri?

     In 1956 small company in Cuba, Missouri started in the barrel making industry and in 1968 McGinnis Wood Products was founded.  McGinnis now turns out 500 wine and whiskey barrels every day.  McGinnis predominately uses white oak to make the barrel staves, which makes a good container to age wine or spirits.  Luckily, Missouri has an abundance of white oak, which is on of the dominant trees in Missouri‘s forest. 

     Researchers from the Scotch Whiskey Research Institute (yes, there is such an institute) in Edinburgh, Scotland (as you might expect) has done test on McGinnis staves and found that the white oak within a 50 mile radius of Cuba was among the best stave wood in the world for aging wine (take that Napa Valley).

     McGinnis keeps the higher quality wood for wine staves that will dry in the natural elements, which takes around 36 months.  The staves for the bourbon barrels are kiln dried and ready for production in 60 days.

     After the wood is dried, the staves for wine barrels are planed and cut with special saws to produce the same angle on the edge and wider middle than the edge.  After the wood is shaped the wine barrel staves are ready for shipment. The wine barrels are shipped in pieces to Coopers and barrel makers around the world for them to later assemble into barrels as needed. 

     The production of bourbon barrels continues with the barrel raiser beginning the assembly arranging the wooden staves in a circular configuration.  The barrel is next put through a steaming process, which pulls them into shape without breaking them.  A head ring is installed on each end then the staves are cut to an even length.  Next they char the inside of the barrel with a propane torch.  The metal hoops are installed using a hydraulic driver, the hoops keep the barrels shape intact.  Once the barrel is assembled a hole is drilled in one of the staves and a pressure test is done, if all goes well the barrel is ready to ship. 

      So give some thought to the people in Cuba, Missouri who support the wine and bourbon industry next time you’re enjoying a glass of Cabernet or blended Scotch.

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Information source for this article was the Feb 2011 issue of Current Times.

To watch a video on how a barrel is made visit www.ruralmissouri.coop

What is the purpose of the dimple at the bottom of some wine bottles?

     This dimple is called a punt or kick up.  In ancient times a wooden tool called a pontil stick was attached to the bottom of the bottle while it was being blown.  When this pontil stick was removed it left an indentation which actually was a good thing because it made the bottle stable when standing upright.  Making the bottom of the bottle completely flat was difficult and when attempted it was found that the bottom turn out to be convex and it would topple over. 

  

     Other reasons suggest the following:

  The punt helps collects the sediment. 

              The punt helps strengthen the bottle.

              It is a perfect spot to place your thumb when pouring wine.

     That was then but what about now.  The wine industry has always been a traditional business with specific marketing techniques and a bottle with a punt makes a great looking bottle.  Tradition may be changing with the new boxed wine or plastic bottles but the punt has been around since the ancient times.  How long will it last…….your guess is as good as mine. 

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Why do wine bottles have different shapes?

     There are many answers and all of them may be correct.  Different wine regions in different countries adopted their own bottle shape, maybe it was partially an economic reason.  It could be that the some bottles shapes were chosen over another because they stack better or possibly it was just for esthetic reasons.  In any case these different bottles shapes help us distinguish the different wine types.  So after many years it has become a tradition.  We are used to seeing German Riesling in long slender bottles or a Cabernet in a Bordeaux bottle.  

      Even the use of colored glass bottles seems to follow this tradition.  Next time your shopping for wine take note of the different colored bottles and type of wine and region they come from, does there seem to be a consistent pattern?  Also notice how boring and difficult it would be to choose a wine if they were all in the same style bottle.  

     There are no hard rules when bottling wine since the bottle shape will not affect the taste.  That’s why some winemakers create a special bottle for some of their wines.  

      Champagne is the only exception since it requires a thicker bottle to withstand the pressure created by the champagne.  So if you’re a home wine maker use whatever bottle you choose for you latest vintage and toast the tradition.   

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