Vino > wrote in message >. ..
> This came as a surprise to me although it may be well known to others
> here. A friend who knows someone working at a winery in NZ said that
> he was told that this winery was fermenting PN in oak barrels. As this
> was second-hand information, something might have been lost in
> translation but, as it was described to me, the PN fermentation is
> started in large tanks but, prior to complete fermentation, the liquid
> is transferred to oak barrels, leaving behind the skins and seeds, and
> the fermentation is allowed to run to completion. I didn't think to
> ask whether the wine is then aged in the same barrels and if the yeast
> is left with the wine.
>
> I have never heard of anything like this being done to make a (truly)
> red wine, i.e. excluding rosés and things like white zins. Is this
> something that I have somehow missed or is it indeed an uncommon thing
> to do?
>
> Vino

Although barrel fermentation is more often associated with white
wines, it is not unknown for reds and from what I've read is fairly
common in Australia - maybe somebody from there can tell us if that's
true. And secondary (malolactic) fermentation *usually* happens in
the barrel.

- Mark W.