Port Barrel Sizes

[Bradley Bogdan]

I was always under the impression that virtually all the maturing of Port in barrel came in “pipe” size barrels. I was drinking some Port barrique matured Scotch earlier, which led me down an Internet rabbit hole that brought me to the conclusion that, while customary, the pipe is not nearly the only sized used to mature Port. Is there any good resources I’m just what Barrel parameters there are, and rough aging estimates in each size?


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[Glenn E.]

There are pipas, toneis, and balseiros. I tend to get the latter two confused, but as I recall a tonel looks like a huge pipe while the balseiro looks like a gargantuan half of a barrel standing on end.

Pipas come in many sizes. The "standard" is 550 liters, but because they're hand made there's really no standard capacity. I've seen "standard" pipas over 600 liters and just under 500 liters. But I have also seen much smaller 150 and 200 liter barrels, which as far as I know are still referred to as pipas. The smaller the pipe, the faster the Port inside it oxidizes. I've heard stories of producers having their tawnies rejected because they tasted too old, when in fact they were too young but had spent their entire life aging in small pipes.

I would say that there's no "standard" for a tonel or a balseiro. Toneis seem to be around 8-10,000 liters most of the time (at least the ones I've seen have been), but can be as large as 14,000 liters or pretty much as small as you want to make them. Make one small enough and it becomes a pipa.

Balseiros can be vast - like 50,000 liters and larger. IIRC the largest still in use is owned by Cockburn and is in the 120,000 liters range... hopefully Andy or Roy can correct me on that.

Tonels are often used to age tawnies when a younger profile is desired, or simply to store a tawny that has reached perfection and doesn't need further wood-aged notes. They can also be used to age LBVs for a few years when a softer profile is desired.

"Aging" in balseiros is almost a misnomer. In something that vast, the Port isn't going to become tawny any time soon. Those are usually bulk storage, or possibly used to "age" LBV for the required number of years without actually changing its profile in any significant way.

[Eric Ifune]

Toneis lie on their sides. Balseiros stand upright. No standard sizes although Toneis tend to be smaller. Hogsheads are half pipes, approximately the standard size of a Bordeaux or Burgundy barrel. I've seen these in lodges also.

[Sanjit Keskar]

Are these pipes (barrels) used or new and are they lightly or heavily charred ?

Are tonels and the balseiro vats actually (ever) charred from within?

[Glenn E.]

Port is generally only aged in used barrels so that as little wood flavor as possible is transferred to the Port itself. The larger companies have full-time coopers on staff to maintain and rejuvenate older barrels as needed. Sometimes when a barrel is repaired a new stave of new wood will need to be used, but that's the only time I can think of that Port would normally come into contact with new wood. Port barrels are as neutral as possible within the constraints of regular maintenance.

No char, ever, as far as I know. That would dramatically change the flavor and is not desired.

[Eric Menchen]

There are pipas, toneis, and balseiros. I tend to get the latter two confused, but as I recall a tonel looks like a huge pipe while the balseiro looks like a gargantuan half of a barrel standing on end.

You and Eric Ifune are correct on your distinction between toneis and balseiros. I keep them apart by remembering that a tonel (the singular) is a lot like a túnel, or tunnel in English. The barrel is on its side, and if it weren't for the ends, you could pass through it like a tunnel. I was wondering if this might be the origin of the word, but apparently it comes from French. https://dicionario.priberam.org/tonel

[Sanjit Keskar]

I came across a Douro glossary site on the web that actually mentioned PIPAS (AROUND 600 LITER CAPACITY) AND PIPOS (AS AROUND 300 LITER CAPACITY) as two different sizes of port pipe barrels. Never read much about Pipos though??!

[Glenn E.]

I came across a Douro glossary site on the web that actually mentioned PIPAS (AROUND 600 LITER CAPACITY) AND PIPOS (AS AROUND 300 LITER CAPACITY) as two different sizes of port pipe barrels. Never read much about Pipos though??!

Based on my rudimentary knowledge of Portuguese, those look like the masculine (pipo) and feminine (pipa) forms of the same word. That said, I can't recall every having seen or heard the word "pipo" used - I've always heard it as pipas.

[Eric Menchen]

Pipo translates as barrel, so that fits with being a barrel of "standard" size with much of the rest of the world. And a pipa is a large staved vessel or canister. So I can accept that explanation. But I've not heard the term pipo used in the Douro either. Then again, I'm not always paying close attention to the língua portuguesa, except the one time I took the Sandeman tour in Portuguese. I should do more of that.

[Roy Hersh]

There are pipas, toneis, and balseiros. I tend to get the latter two confused, but as I recall a tonel looks like a huge pipe while the balseiro looks like a gargantuan half of a barrel standing on end.

Correct usage and plurality/pluralization, Glenn.

Mr. Menchen is correct that for the future, everyone can remember easily that a tonel looks like a tunnel in shape; the cask laying on its side.

The hogshead are nearly half the size of a pipa, but can be as small as 225 liters and the majority that are used for Port, are 250 liters.

IIRC, the largest balseiro that I have ever seen in use was holding Warre's (unless mistaken and in wood was Cockburn's but from memory, I am seeing Warre's on it) and I do have a photo of it on one of my old computers, so if/when I have time ... but it has been at least a half decade, possibly quite a bit more time, since I've seen that one. The C. da Silva facility at the top of the Gaia lodges had stainless steel tanks that were about 50 feet talk but not as enormous, nor shaped like a balseiro ... but held huge quantities of Port. But I am getting side-tracked.

The range of pipa is 550-650 liters in size; however the measurement utilized for the purpose of "beneficio" or when a shipper mentions how many pipas they have in storage, etc. is using the standard of 550 liters each.

There is also a wooden barrel referred to as a "lodge pipe" and they are slightly different in shape, so that they are easy for 2 men to roll on a hard flooring. They can range in size but most have been 600-650, but I have seen some that were even larger, I believe 700 liters was the biggest. I am pretty sure that 650 L was "standard" but that could have also varied by shipper. They are narrowest at either end and widest at the mid-point and rolled in the middle. I've heard that in some lodges, one man could roll these, but I've never seen that done ... so conjecture at best.

As long as we are here, a cask (drum) of Madeira that is most similar to a pipa, is almost always 600-650 liters. I would not be surprised if there are exceptions, and there are smaller casks than hogsheads there, but I am not sure what those are called, on the island.

[Glenn E.]

And a pipa is a large staved vessel or canister.

Apparently it also translates as a large amount of money (definition 5), which makes sense because that's what one would have to exchange for a pipa of Port!

Thanks for the link to an online dictionary in Portuguese, that will be useful in the future!

[Eric Menchen]

Thanks for the link to an online dictionary in Portuguese, that will be useful in the future!

You're welcome. I found a number of dictionaries, but that one seemed pretty extensive, and had etymology. I also like that it breaks out some of the meanings distinctly for Portugal and Brazil.