Patent ID: 8413835

Claim:
A container assembly for maturing wine in bulk, the container assembly comprising, a container having a body with upper, side and bottom walls, a frame for supporting the container and bracing at least one side wall of the container against bulging, an access opening beneath the frame for allowing entry of the tynes of a forklift, a neck with an open mouth extending from an upper wall of the body, the upper wall slopes upwardly towards the neck to allow substantially all air to flow out of the body through the neck as the container is filled to the level of the bottom of the neck and, an outlet for draining liquid from the container arranged proximate a dip formed in the bottom wall of the body, wherein the body comprises rigid polyethylene with walls having an oxygen transmission rate suitable for maturing wine stored in the container assembly, of 13 mg to 65 mg of atmospheric oxygen per square meter as measured for a 1 mm thickness during a 24 hour period at room temperature and wherein the rigid bottom wall is sloped towards the outlet to allow substantially all liquid in the container to drain through the outlet when it is opened.