The Unexpected Number of Wine Bottles In a Barrel

As much as I enjoy a glass or two of wine, I know surprisingly little about the ins and outs of the winemaking process. I’ve visited a few wineries in recent years and have even had some great conversations with winemakers and sommeliers. But if you quizzed me, I couldn’t tell you the answers to some of the most important questions about the process. I blame the pinot. 

Stocking up on my favorite bottles of rosé and sauvignon blanc for the holidays, I got to thinking: How, exactly, are my go-to wines made, and could these bottles I’m buying come from the same batch? I chatted with a winemaker to indulge my curiosity. Read on if you’re equally curious about the recent history of your own wine.

The Basics On How Wines Are Aged

Turns out, there are a lot of complex steps involved in producing a bottle of wine. Before it’s bottled and sold, wine has to age, which means it spends a certain amount of time in an oak, stainless steel, or concrete tank (sometimes called a barrel). According to Anne Ebenreiter Hubatch, proprietor and winemaker at Helioterra Wines in Portland, OR, the exact process varies depending on the type of wine being produced. 

“White wines tend to have a shorter storage frame, so it could be in the vessel anywhere from four months to a year and a half,” she says. “Red wines are usually in barrels for eight to 36 months.”

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Precisely how long a wine stays in the storage vessel depends on the winemaker’s goal. Some red wines undergo a secondary fermentation, Hubach says, which requires more time in the tank. And certain white wines — for example, chardonnay — might stay in the oak barrel longer than others so they can take on the classic oaky characteristics.

How Many Wine Bottles Come From a Single Barrel?

Now, onto my other question: How many wine bottles come from a single barrel? That’s more cut-and-dry. According to Hubach, there are two different barrel sizes. The long, narrow Bordeaux barrel — commonly used for “bigger” red wines, such as cabernet and merlot — holds 225 liters of wine. The short-and-stout Burgundy barrel is 228L, and it’s typically used for white wines and lighter red wines, such as pinot noir and syrah.

If the average-sized wine bottle is 750ml, then math says you’ll get about 300 bottles from each barrel. Impressive, huh? 

For most wines, winemakers employ a process called blending to achieve a specific flavor profile for a given wine. This might mean blending different barrels, varieties of wine, or wines from different vineyards, so your favorite bottle tastes consistently delicious no matter when or where you buy it.

The blending process — and the entire winemaking journey — can vary from winery to winery, and from grape to grape. All this variability is part of why the winemaking process can feel so complex to those of us who aren’t immersed in it. Clearly, I’m due for another trip to a winery!