🍷 Concrete vat
A thick-walled concrete vat that holds a steady temperature for a long time.
A concrete vat is a thick-walled concrete tank for fermenting and ageing wine. Concrete was used for wine long before steel tanks, and many producers have returned to it today. The walls are very thick, so the temperature inside changes slowly and stays even.
Concrete is slightly porous and lets in a little air, like wood, but does not give the wine an oak taste. Winemakers like this combination: the wine has a clean taste but is not closed up, as it can be in a steel tank. The inside surface is sometimes coated with epoxy or left bare after treatment with tartaric acid.
A special form of concrete tank is the concrete egg. Its egg shape keeps the wine slowly moving, so the lees stay in suspension. Concrete tanks are used for both red and white wines. They are heavy and cannot be moved, but they last for decades. Concrete is part of the wider picture of what wine is made in, alongside steel, wood and clay.
What it includes
How it connects to Wine
🍷 Concrete vat → kind of → 🍾 Wine containers, glassware and serving → kind of → 🍷 Wine
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Frequently asked questions
What is a concrete vat for?
It keeps an even temperature and lets in a little air without adding flavour.
What is a concrete egg?
An egg-shaped concrete tank in which the wine moves slowly by itself.
How does concrete differ from steel?
Concrete is slightly porous and holds temperature well, while steel lets in no air.
Similar
🍷 Wooden vat · 🍷 Canned wine · 🍷 Demijohn · 🍷 Bag-in-box · 🍷 Wine in carton · 🍷 Stainless steel tank