Patent Description:
Today, quality red and white wines are usually aged in <NUM>-<NUM> liter oak barrels. The barrels are very expensive and are effective for up to <NUM> years. As oak becomes scarce and ever stricter environmental regulations dictate the number of trees that are cut each year, the price rises.

Wine has been aged in oak barrels for centuries. There are historical reasons for the popularity of the oak barrel, which include their shape, which enables rolling, and the assistance of the oak to control the wine aging process as it facilitates micro-oxidation through the trachea in the wood. Microoxidation enables enough oxygen for positive chemical reactions, but insufficient oxygen for the damaging ones. In addition, the flavors concentrated in the toasted oak, when coming in contact with the wine, are released into the wine and enrich its aroma profile and mouth feeling. The polyphenols in the oak are a very important factor, adding to mouthfeel and act as a natural preservant and color enhancer, enhancing the aging potential of the wine.

Nevertheless, the traditional barrel has its faults, as it is very expensive, its shape is awkward for stacking and wastes considerable space in the winery. In addition, cleaning of wine barrels is very problematic, as the barrel is a closed vessel with a very narrow opening (<NUM>). Thus, every few month the barrels are emptied, cleaned by hot water or steam and refilled. This operation causes wine oxidation, wine loss and requires extensive man power.

Because of these faults, it is common in modern wineries to age wines in stainless steel tanks. When this practice is used, it is customary to add oak wood cheeps or staves for the purposes of providing taste and aroma, and in advanced wineries a micro oxidation system is often installed. Those practices try to imitate the natural processes happening in the barrel. Unfortunately, the results are usually insufficient, and reduce the prestige of the resulting wine, causing the wineries to sell those wines under lower level labels.

<CIT> teaches a barrel with internal dividers, for maturation of alcoholic beverages.

<CIT> teaches a barrel with an internal divider and flow to an external tank.

The present embodiments describe a wine aging system which may combine the large and cheap aging volume of stainless steel and the benefits of oak aging, in particular the imparting of flavor and micro oxidation.

According to an aspect of some embodiments of the present invention there is provided a barrel for maturation of wine comprising a wooden exterior and an internal volume and a plurality of internal wooden surfaces extending inwardly of said wooden exterior into said internal volume, wherein said internal wooden surfaces divide said barrel into compartments, said internal wooden surfaces having openings at alternating ends of successive compartments to allow for flow of maturing wine between said compartments such that an outlet from a first compartment forms an inlet to a second compartment at a first end of said second compartment, said second compartment having an outlet at a second end of said second compartment which outlet forms an inlet to a third compartment the barrel being placed on its side and wherein said compartments and said openings form a flow path between an intake at one end of said barrel and an outlet at an opposite end of said barrel, the flow path being via lengths of said succeeding compartments, said intake and said outlet configured for connecting to an external tank, thereby to provide circulation from said external tank via said compartments along said flow path and back to said external tank.

In an embodiment, each compartment has an inlet at one end and an outlet at an opposite end such that the flow path extends along a length of each compartment.

In an embodiment, the inlet is higher than the outlet, thereby to allow gravity to assist with flow of the maturing wine through the flow path.

In embodiments, a system for maturation of wine comprising a tank and at least one of the wooden barrel as disclosed above, and flow connectors to allow circulation of maturing wine between said tank and said at least one barrel, wherein said wooden barrel comprises internal wooden surfaces, said internal wooden surfaces forming a succession of compartments, openings being provided between alternating ends of succeeding compartments to define a flow path through lengths of said succeeding compartments such that an outlet from a first compartment forms an inlet to a second compartment at a first end of said second compartment, said second compartment having an outlet at a second end of said second compartment which outlet forms an inlet to a third compartment, the flow path to allow said circulation of said maturing wine thereby passing through said each of said compartments and back to said tank.

In an embodiment, the tank is a steel tank, and the wooden barrel may have internal wooden surfaces extending into the volume of the barrel to increase the surface area of the wood, so that even though the wine spends less time in the barrel, it actually spends more time in close proximity to a wooden surface.

In an embodiment, the internal wooden surfaces form compartments, and openings may be provided between the compartments to allow flow of the maturing wine through the barrel.

In an embodiment, the volume of the at least one barrel is less than a fifth of the volume of the tank.

In an embodiment, the barrel is at a lower level than a top of the tank to allow gravity to assist the circulation.

In an embodiment, the flow connectors comprise a pump to assist the circulation.

A plurality of barrels may be connected in series with each other and with the tank. Alternatively, a plurality of barrels may be connected in parallel with each other and in series with the tank.

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of maturing wine comprising circulating maturing wine between at least one wooden barrel and a tank, the wooden barrel having internal walls forming compartments and openings between said compartments, the openings being at alternating ends of succeeding compartments to form a flow path through succeeding lengths of said compartments, such that an outlet from a first compartment forms an inlet to a second compartment at a first end of said second compartment, said second compartment having an outlet at a second end of said second compartment which outlet forms an inlet to a third compartment, said circulating comprising following said flow path through said compartments of said barrel and returning to said tank. The barrel is placed on its side.

The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to a method and apparatus for aging wine.

Reference is now made to <FIG>, which illustrates a winery aging system <NUM> which comprises a combination of a barrel arrangement <NUM> and a stainless steel tank <NUM>, using the advantages of both systems for a shorter and cheaper wine aging process, saving money and space without giving up quality. Flow connectors <NUM> allow circulation of maturing wine between the tank and the barrel arrangement.

The volume of barrel or arrangement of barrels is less than a fifth of the volume of the tank, and may typically be around <NUM>%. Thus less barrel is used per volume of wine but, as will be discussed below, the barrel has internal surfaces so that the wine spends more time in close proximity to a wooden surface. The barrel arrangement is at a lower level than a top of the tank and thus allows gravity to assist with circulation of the wine between the barrels and the tank. The flow connectors may additionally comprise a pump to assist with the circulation.

The barrel arrangement may be several barrels connected to form a flow path with the tank. The barrels may be connected in series between themselves and with the tank, or the barrels may be connected in parallel among themselves but in series with the tank. Alternatively two or more parallel paths may be connected, each having two or more barrels.

Regular barrels are oval shaped, and hollow. The exchange of oxygen and flavors takes place in a very small fraction of overall volume of the barrel, specifically at the places where the wine and wood meet. As a result, the aging process is slow and inefficient, as the oxygen diffuses into the wine according to a concentration cascade. Furthermore, when the wine close to the surface is saturated, the micro oxidation process practically stops. The same phenomenon happens with the aroma extraction process from the barrel into the aging wine.

Reference is now made to <FIG> which shows a longitudinal cross section <NUM> of one of the barrels of <FIG>. In the barrels of the present embodiments, internal dividers <NUM> are installed. The dividers are shape fitted to the barrel to thereby construct compartments <NUM>. In the bottom or top of each compartment, the divider <NUM> contains a narrow passage or opening <NUM>, which enables movement of the wine through the chambers. The openings <NUM> alternate between top and bottom to force the wine to flow along the length of each compartment.

Each barrel has an inlet <NUM> and an outlet <NUM>, which may be controlled with valves. As shown in <FIG>, the inlets and outlets are concealed from frontal view and this is to retain a traditional appearance at the winery. The inlets and the outlets may be flexibly connected together using piping, enabling the connection of several barrels in a row or in parallel in any desired configuration.

The dividers <NUM> add several times more surface area, at which extraction of oak flavors is able to occur. In addition, the movement of the wine through the barrel refreshes the wine in contact with the external surface, thus enhancing the micro oxidation process. In addition, the slow but consistent flow of wine through the barrels may prevent much of the sedimentation that generally occurs in the barrels. Rather most of the sedimentation occurs in the tank, which may then be separated and removed through a specific sediment removing valve provided for this purpose and located at the bottom of the tank - see <FIG>.

The barrels may be made of the traditional oak. As shown, the barrel is placed on its side and the compartments and the openings form a flow path indicated by arrows <NUM> between intake <NUM> at one end of the barrel and outlet <NUM> at an opposite end of the barrel. Each compartment may have two openings, an inlet at one end and an outlet at an opposite end so that the flow path extends along a length of each compartment. Typically, the barrel inlet <NUM> is higher than the barrel outlet <NUM>, thereby to allow gravity to assist with flow of the maturing wine through the flow path.

When ending malolactic fermentation, or whenever the winemaker decides to start the aging process, the wine is pumped into a stainless steel tank such as that shown in <FIG> to which reference is now made. The tank is the reservoir of the aging system, and is connected to a set of barrels of the kind shown in <FIG>. In an embodiment, the wine in the tank may be kept constantly under a bed of Argon gas to prevent oxidation. The barrels may typically together consist of <NUM>% of the tank volume. The barrels may be connected between themselves and back to the tank. As shown in <FIG>, wine flows from the upper part of the lower third of the tank via wine outlet <NUM>, by gravitation, into the upper barrel, then into the barrel underneath, back up into the second upper barrel and so on. The flow motion may be assisted by the constant emptying of the last barrel by low flow pump <NUM>. The wine may thus circulate through the barrels in a very slow motion, flowing through the chambers in the barrels and back into the upper part of the tank via wine inlet <NUM>. In this way, wine circulation in the tank itself is minimized, enabling the stabilization and natural sedimentation of organic and inorganic particles, and the clarification of the wine in the tank. The sediments gathered in the tank are removed periodically by the sedimentation valve <NUM>.

It is expected that during the life of a patent maturing from this application many relevant wine aging techniques and equipment will be developed and the scopes of the corresponding terms are intended to include all such new technologies a priori.

The term "consisting of' means "including and limited to".

Claim 1:
A barrel for maturation of wine comprising a wooden exterior and an internal volume and a plurality of internal wooden surfaces extending inwardly of said wooden exterior into said internal volume, wherein said internal wooden surfaces divide said barrel into compartments, said internal wooden surfaces having openings at alternating ends of successive compartments to allow for flow of maturing wine between said compartments such that an outlet from a first compartment forms an inlet to a second compartment at a first end of said second compartment, said second compartment having an outlet at a second alternate end of said second compartment which outlet forms an inlet to a third compartment the barrel being placed on its side and wherein said compartments and said openings form a flow path between an intake at one end of said barrel and an outlet at an opposite end of said barrel, the flow path being via lengths of said succeeding compartments, said intake and said outlet configured for connecting to an external tank, thereby to provide circulation from said external tank via said compartments along said flow path and back to said external tank.