Cabernet Sauvignon Barell

Today I moved the Cabernet Sauvignon that my buddy made for me into my new wooden barrel.  It is just a 20L barrel and the goal is to age this wine in the barrel for about two months - maybe longer - so my barrel will have a bit of a wine coating to it.

The idea is from Russian River and their sour "Consecration" which is aged Cabernet Sauvignon barrels.  They describe the beer as:

Dark Ale aged in Cabernet Sauvignon barrels from local wineries. It is aged for 4 to 8 months with black currants, brettanomyces, lactobacillus, and pediococcus added to each barrel. Rich flavors of chocolate truffle, spice, tobacco, currants, and a bit of Cabernet. 

I will be adding a Flanders Red to the barrel after the wine has aged and has been bottled. The beer will have a blend of Brett and Lacto.  Not sure about the Peddioccoccus yet.

The barrel was filled with water to seal it up.  Once it was sealed we added some cleaner to the barrel that is meant to reduce the tannin levels.  After it soaks for three days it is drained and then rinsed out three times with hot water.  After the final rinse we added the wine through a funnel as seen in the photo to the left.  It had a very strong charred oak smell while flushing out the water.  Reminded me of whiskey.  I will update the status one the wine has been bottled and the new beer added to barrel for the first batch of barrel aged sours!