Our acacia barrels
"Respect of fruity characteristics", "tasteful and delicate influences", "more floral notes on the nose and palate", "peppery notes of exotic fruit" , "ropy from ageing in wooden barrels", say some of our customers who use our acacia barrels or professionals smitten by taste.
Although acacia (also called Robinia pseudoacacia) grows naturally in Bulgaria, the high density of trunks, great for barrel making, is due to rigorous selection of seeds, to tree planting on the slopes of hills and to a large range of temperatures between wintertime and summertime.
When tradition reaches out the modernity
A barrel made of acacia seems to be something new for most people. Actually, it is not : let's quote La monographie du coteau de l'Ermitage et des vignobles qui l'avoisinent par M. Rey published in 1861, in Dijon, in which "You never age Ermitage into old containers (...) White wines seem to benefit more from white mulberry and acacia than from oak." Moreover it is known that this tradition of making and ageing wines in acacia barrels has been perpetuated thank to prestigious wineries.
When we began to work in Bulgaria, we noticed that white alcoholic drinks were used to be aged in acacia barrels.
Surprising results
Vineyard owners yield to the temptation of acacia barrels for the first time to make sweet wines from vines such as Petit Manseing, Sémillon, Muscadelle, Mauzac. They quickly enjoyed the experience with dry whites wines produced from Chardonnay, Sémillon, Muscadelle, which are blended with the same wines aged in oak barrels.
Quality and originality of the resulting wine often excels beyond expectations.
Regarding the harvest of 2005-6, our customers have noticed promising results for rosé making processes or development of red wines in acacia barrels.
The term of "acacia" has been authorized for use on label of wines produced in wooden containers.
Indeed the Commission Regulation (EC) No 1951/2006 of 21 December 2006 amending Regulation (EC) No 753/2002 concerning certain detailed rules implementing Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 on the common organisation of the market in wine, as regards the presentation of wines treated in wood containers establishes a new "ANNEX X Indications authorised for use on wine labelling pursuant to Article 22(3) "barrel fermented" | "barrel matured" | "barrel aged" |"...-cask fermented [indicate the type of wood]" | "...-cask matured [indicate the type of wood]" | "...-cask aged [indicate the type of wood]" |"cask fermented" | "cask matured" | "cask aged"
