vintage

vintage
Originally uploaded by rod lewis

"And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.
And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, 'The old is good enough.'"

These barrels are made of Canadian Oak. Due to temperature differences Oak from Canada has a tighter grain pattern than does oak from the U.S. Canadian Oak then, doesn't allow as much absorption, nor transfer of the oak flavor to the wine, while U.S. oak flavors the wine more.
Apparently, over time, the wood will have absorbed enough wine, and they will have given all it has to give to the wine aged in these barrels, and will be replaced with fresh barrels.
The new barrels will have a greater affect on the flavor of the new wine, and will not impose it's pre-absorbed old wine on the new vintage.
The old barrels will be sold to lower quality wineries who may think the old wineskins were good enough. Some are sold as flowerpots at Lowes or Home Depot.