Visiting a winery for a wine geek is like being a kid in a candy store. There are so many fascinating tools, equipment, machinery and tiny knick-knacks here and there that you can’t help but notice. Persuading the winemaker (politely) then can indeed help you know a lot more about them! Haha, well before you judge, there’s not been an actual robbery at the winery. I was in fact, referring to this nifty little glass apparatus you see here that I’m using to ‘steal’ some wine from the barrel, called the wine thief. A long pipe, usually made of glass, is used by winemakers to evaluate wines in barrels at various stages of ageing to assess the quality and the steady maturation of wine over time. 

“The wine thief – a long pipe, usually made of glass, used by winemakers to evaluate wines in barrels at various stages of ageing to assess quality and the steady maturation of wine over time.”

But, how do you use the wine thief?

If you look at the picture carefully, it’s fairly simple to use this tool. Just insert the long (occasionally curved) end into the barrel through the bunghole, use your thumb to closely cover the mouth of the pipe on top, draw the thief up and the pipette will fill up with wine. You must then be swift in taking it out and releasing your thumb to allow the wine out from the thief and into a tasting glass. It did take me a while to get used to the seal-and-release thumb action to make it look like an elegant ‘steal’, but I’m not sure how I fared on that!

Tasting the barrel samples

Let’s get to the part of tasting those barrel samples now, once you’ve successfully managed to steal them. Normally, our first taste of a new wine or vintage is from a finished product – like a bottle from the store. But I’ve realised over time how barrel tasting gives great insights to the upcoming vintage, and helps to get a different perspective on the winemaking process as well. 

If a wine is being barrel-fermented, a winemaker may use the wine thief several times over the weeks to keep a keen eye on the process, this being a delicate stage. For wines being aged in barrels, the winemaker may taste the samples every 1, 3 or 6 months to assess how the wine is evolving. Right up until the perfect time to bottle them, label them, and see them off to be poured into our glasses soon!

My wine thief moment!

My first wine-thief experience was at KRSMA Estates, when I, along with their winemaker, and a dear friend of mine, Aniruddha Rajagopalan ‘stole’ three barrel samples of Cabernet Sauvignon from three different plots on the same estate. Despite this, they all had characteristics distinct from one another. Aniruddha explained how at the end of the barrel-ageing period, they’d all be blended in different proportions to create the KRSMA Cabernet Sauvignon’s trademark robust and powerful expression.  The reds had only just begun their barrel-ageing time, and their still young and harsh tannins made my palate pucker, but you know what’s the best part? It’s almost as if you start to feel like you understand the wine’s journey, and you’re a part of its ‘evolving’ process too!

Food for thought…

I couldn’t help but wonder – if this is it. It’s here that the magic happens. At the vineyard. In the winery. Inside the barrel room. Even if you think you’ve studied aspects of winemaking, a trip to the winery can entirely transform your perspective thanks to the tremendous wealth of information you get to absorb there. Even if it starts with something as simple (yet fancy) as a wine thief. Don’t forget to steal some wine with it at your next vineyard visit!