For The Love Of Port

Hi,

We are moving from London to Brisbane and want to prepare our port barrel for shipping. It's a souvenir from a holiday in Porto and we use it all the time (admittedly more as port storage than maturation, as it tends to pass through pretty quickly!). It will take approximately 3 months from the time we say goodbye in London, to when we see it again in Australia, but there is a chance even then it won't be unpacked immediately so could potentially sit longer.

I'm thinking that we fill it up and ship it, by the time we see it again, the port will have hopefully matured nicely for drinking (minus the angel's share)

However my husband is pretty concerned about the risk of leaking (it doesn't normally leak) all over our other stuff, and thinks we should transport it empty (dry). I'm really struggling to find much information about the best way to do this, and how to clean it beforehand so it doesn't develop any kind of mould/ infection. I can see some websites suggesting burning sulphur sticks (which I can't seem to source in the UK), but say this needs to be done every 30 days when storing a barrel dry, however we won't have access to it every 30 days of it's journey. Plenty of people suggest to clean with bleach, but just as many people say don't clean with bleach as it's an old-fashioned practice (besides which that doesn't appeal). I'm assuming there'll be some kind of cleansing required at the other end as well, before rehydrating it and refilling.

Worst case scenario- if it's not viable as a port barrel, we will likely still enjoy it as a decoration, but as a port storage vessel, it's even better!

Any thoughts/ideas/tips would be incredibly welcome

J

Bleach sounds like the worst idea of all. I would never let bleach solution touch one of my barrels. I tend to not use it at all in the brewery, but at least when used with glass I am pretty sure I can rinse it all away. With wood, you can't be sure of this, and plenty of bad chemicals can be produced when bleach mixes with organics.

Shipping dry is an option. You will have to rehydrate on the other end, and more maintenance might be required. I'd contact a local beer and winemaking store to see if they can get you sulfur sticks. If not, you can probably order them from France or the US. Here's a US source: http://www.morebeer.com/products/sulfur ... ge-10.html

Shipping wet introduces more weight, but would give you better odds of the barrel still holding liquid after three months. Can you insure the barrel will be kept upright during the journey so you can just seal with a bung? BTW, how big is your barrel? You could fill with Port, but that introduces legal issues, at least for me it would. You could fill it with an acid solution, sulphite and citric. This would keep nasties out, keep the barrel sealed, and if it did leak, no great loss for you. And if the solution is weak enough, not a terrible situation for the shipper should it leak just a little.

Here's one source of info on barrel maintenance that can give you some guidance. There are others.
https://www.thebeveragepeople.com/pdf/w ... s%2006.pdf

No bleach. Peroxide would be better or an acidic solution as Eric M. mentions.
I think shipping with some liquid is better than dry. You risk leakage at the final destination when refilled if the staves dry out.

Eric Ifune wrote:No bleach. Peroxide would be better or an acidic solution as Eric M. mentions.
I think shipping with some liquid is better than dry. You risk leakage at the final destination when refilled if the staves dry out.

Would agree, but I am in no position to provide expertise.

First,
How big is the barrel we are talking about? Is this a small table top type (around 1-3 liters) or large normal wine barrel you find in a producers cellar (around 300-500 liters)?

Bleach is very bad as it can contaminate your barrel with TCA and for the rest of your barrels life you'll have corked Port. Don't do that, please.

IF A LARGE BARREL:
Shipping wet, as mentioned, has it's issues. I would not recommend it unless you are shipping it by a company able to handle such a type of cargo. And one can assume there aren't many around anymore since not much wine is shipped abroad in wood barrels anymore.

Probably best to ship dry then try and rehydrate it (to make sure it still seals) once you get it back. If it leaks, then fix the leaks, retest and once it seals refill with Port. But the hazard here is as you mentioned, being away from it for so long.

IF A SMALL BARREL:
How about empty it and put it in your luggage or check it in as an additional luggage (well padded of course) when you fly to your new destination? That way you have it with you and can refill within a few days.

Why will it take so long for you to get your barrel? Seems a really long time to wait to be rejoined. How about shipping it separate from your other things so the transit time is far less?