SmartBarrel®

All operations with the SmartBarrel are done with wine pumps. The diptube is connected to the liner using a standard 2" triclamp. Wine is pumped into the liner through the fill/drain port on the diptube. Wine is removed by pumping out of the fill/drain port.

As wine is removed, the liner collapses so headspace is never created. No topping off is ever needed. The perforated design of the diptube ensures that the clean wine is automatically drawn out first.

Sampling using a traditional wine thief introduces air and can cause cross-contamination. The SmartBarrel does not use a wine thief. Samples are taken using a vacuum aspirator that assures that nothing is introduced into the wine during sampling.

You cannot siphon the wine out since there is a vacuum in the bag. Remember — there is no headspace.

Since the SmartBarrel liner has no headspace, partial volumes can be stored for up to 24 months. This is a boon to small wineries. You can start with say 50 gallons in a 60 gallon liner and dispense out wine when needed until the liner is empty. No topping off or transfer to smaller containers.

Traditional cellar operations, such as oaking are easily performed by introducing inexpensive and environmentally sustainable oak products - chips, staves, or cubes into the SmartBarrel liners. A side-benefit of this procedure is that when the appropriate level of oaking is achieved, oaking can be easily terminated by simply pumping the wine out to a new liner without oak products. The chips, staves, etc. are retained in the original liner by the perforations in the diptube. This is not possible with traditional wood barrels.