What’s New at ENOTOOLS

Imagine this: No cork puller needed.
A simple safety seal/ ribbon and you are done! I can't imagine people ever throwing this cork away, but they might recycle it.

Contact Us for Pricing on the Helix 2.0

Save over 8% per gallon by going large format. Experience a lower ratio of oak impact while gaining the mouth feel and aromatic boost of some of the finest, most meticulously chosen and prepared French oak available.

If you've ever liked one of your your favorite white wines fermented in a large format or blended with an all stainless wine with one from a barrel to hit that perfect ratio of oak influence, you will love the way a 600L gently frames and supports any wine which already has excellent potential.

This piece of masterful work represents over 100 years of tradition and engineering and is the only way to own the technology in a D&J tank in the shape of a D&J barrel.

Only from D&J. Contact us to know more.

Available from 9HL to 150HL, Puleo Pneumatic Presses are a Winner.

Request a Quote

We've heard from a lot of our customers that things have slowed down a little for the wine business. OK, maybe a LOT! It may be time to look for ways to reduce costs.

We can't increase your tourism. We can't give your customers a higher wine budget. But we can make your process more efficient monetarily.

1. Packaging- Ask us about a cork nobody can beat on price.

2. American Oak Barrels- If you need new oak and shudder at the landed cost of imported oak, we have the barrels to fill that void. Read the blog post before this one to feel out the numbers.

3. Oak Adjuncts/ Alternatives- The economics of these from fermentation to bottling would impress you.

4. Processing- We sell the machines you need to decrease labor on the crush pad. And several of these are made right here in the US.

Tell us how we can help.

Winemakers often default to French oak when crafting Bordeaux-style reds, but the numbers, chemistry, and evolving cooperage techniques make a compelling case for modern American oak—especially when precision toasting and grain selection are involved.

1. Proven Cost Advantage
Barrel Price Comparison:
• American Oak: $650 (rounded up)
• French Oak: $1,300 (before tariff)
→ Save 50% per barrel
Amortized Barrel Cost Over 5 Fills (288 bottles/fill):
• American Oak: $0.45 per bottle
• French Oak: $0.90 per bottle
Cash Flow Bonus:
• American oak typically allows bottling 6 months sooner
• Avoids ~$0.80 per bottle in carrying costs
Total Savings per Case: ~$15.00
Margin Lift on $35 Wine: +3.6%

2. Sensory Profile That Sells
Modern American oak isn’t overpowering—it’s elegant, fruit-friendly, and fast to integrate.
• Higher cis-oak lactone = coconut + vanilla aromatics
• Stronger vanillin release = creamy mid-palate
• Softer oak tannins = plush, round mouthfeel
• Ideal for Bordeaux-style blends (Cab-heavy, Merlot-forward)
• Use 20–30% in blend to enhance aromatic lift & early drinkability

3. Faster Integration & Oxygen Balance
Oxygen Transmission Rate (OTR, new barrels):
• American Oak: ~11.4 mg/L/year
• French Oak: ~8.2 mg/L/year
→ About 50% of oxygen enters during the first 3 months
→ Rapid polymerization = earlier color + tannin stability
→ Wines mature faster without sacrificing structure

4. Cooperage Options with Barrel Associates
Toast & Bending Options:
• Water Bent – softens tannin, preserves aromatics
• Fire Bent – classic toast, spice and structure
• Deep Toast – hybrid of both for balance and depth
Technical Specs:
• Fine-grain American oak staves (≥3.9 rings/cm)
• 24–36 month air seasoning = smoother integration
• Barrel-to-barrel consistency on par with French oak

5. Trial Scenario: American vs. French Oak
Over 5 fills (1 barrel each, 288 bottles/fill):
Amortized Cost per Bottle:
American Oak: $0.45
French Oak: $0.90
Aging Duration:
American Oak: 12 months
French Oak: 18 months
Cash Flow Carrying Cost (on $20 COGS @ 8%):
American Oak: $0.00
French Oak: $0.80
→ Total Savings per Bottle: $1.25
→ Total Savings per Case: $15.00

Bottom Line:
Today’s American oak barrels—properly seasoned and precision-coopered—offer early integration, sensory lift, and better margins. Whether you're crafting a premium red blend or scaling up production, this is a smart tool for serious winemakers.

Contact US to discuss ordering some American oak barrels.

The most sensible piece of crush equipment you can buy?
Want to see 90% of the benefits of sorting—just by giving your destemmer a constant, regulated flow of grapes?

Meet the Carlsen 6-Foot Horizontal Receiving Hopper—engineered for dumping half-ton bins on the fly, this hopper is the key to getting optimal performance from your destemmer.
Height adjustments? Easy. Built-in forklift pockets allow you to raise or lower the unit to match the height of your other crush equipment.

Versatility You Can Rely On,
This hopper isn’t just for feeding a destemmer. It can be used to deliver:

• Whole cluster fruit to press
• Fermented red must to press
• Fruit to destemmer-crusher
• Fruit to a sorting table

Consistent Flow = Better Sorting and Less Labor. By delivering grapes at a controlled, consistent rate, the operator can dial in the ideal speed at the destemmer. With hand-picked fruit, this often reduces the need for additional sorting. The result? Less labor, and higher-quality destemmed fruit going into the next stage.

Is It Gentle on Grapes?Absolutely.

A horizontal, tight-fitting flight- edged auger with a polished interior, oversized seamless shaft, and contiguous welded flights handles fruit with care.

There’s:

• No pinch zone between the auger and hopper floor
• Negligible increase in solids, if any
• No wasted energy, as bunches slide effortlessly on polished stainless

This design is gentler than hand-raking fruit into the destemmer—and far more efficient. That means less labor and a better end product.

Request a Quote.

Powerful oak in wine seems to have gone the way of the Man Bun yet again.

Is this regional, a fabrication of mine, or a rumor? Is it an absolute? Nothing is.

But more often than not, I hear that winemakers in our territory prefer to let the varietal and the terrior do the talking.

If you are leaning towards less new oak in your program, I have three suggestions for how to apply this methodology:

1. Large Format Oak:
300, 400, 500, and 600 Liter barrels are available from D&J, who also make gorgeous Oak Tanks.

2. Use a lower number of higher quality barrels to augment an otherwise neutral oak barrel program.

3. As late as two weeks before bottling, add a conservative amount of finishing tannin to a wine aged in neutral oak in the form of liquid oak extract. You can buy a testing kit or order liters of finishing tannin at the US Amedee store and get 10% off with discount code ENOTOOLS10.

I know that the commercial artform of Winemaking means that you express your knowledge, experience, and preferences in your winemaking.

So, far be it from me to attempt to influence that style.
But when we are talking about diminished aroma, color loss, or an overall lack of freshness in Rose' or Whites, that's not style. I can help you increase your happy factor as you open those pink or white wines two months or two years from now.

Please take the time to consider the type and cost of the closure on that wine. No, it's not the market share of what I see going wrong with "immediate consumption" wines. But there are situations where there is a mismatch. Our XPUR is consistent, safe, and affordable.

And please be open- minded about using an imperceptible amount of pure, organic, liquid oak extract. I am not talking about making an all- stainless wine taste or smell like a barrel aged wine. While entirely possible using US Amedee's EBX Liquid, that is not the focus here.

It's not too late!

Up to two weeks before bottling, you could be adding 3-10ml/ HL of EBX to your Whites or Rose' to preserve the potential for aromatics and overall freshness in these wines. You will not find a more consistent, accessible, or candid manufacturer than Amedee, the makers of the EBX Liquids.

Save 10% on EBX Liquids by using the discount code ENOTOOLS10 at the storeferont here: www.amedee.us/shop

And as far as the closure is concerned, how about a flavor neutral, absorbable TCA- free, affordable XPUR from Amorim? They contain no expanded plastic microbeads and are to be trusted with any wine at any price.

And we love to see them in your bottles!

Contact us to set up a trial of the Amorim XPUR at your winery.

Stop leaving quality on the test bench.

With EBX Liquid Tannin from US Amedee, you can add not the blood of the barrel, but the plasma of the blood of the barrel to your wine to accentuate the best features and achieve balance, while preserving the color and potential for aromatics which you've worked so hard for since the fruit set.

This will be the most fun you've had at work in a long time. Take a good wine and make it great- Naturally.

Order your trial kit online and use discount code ENOTOOLS10 to save 10%.

Shop now.

US Amedee is a venture run by Doug Manning under the ownership of Stephane Radoux, the 5th generation Cooper by the name we all know.

We just opened the online store where you can find every product offered by US Amedee; Including EBX Liquid Tannins, Barrel Protect, Chips, Staves, etc.

SAVE 10% with discount code ENOTOOLS10

SHOP NOW

-Oak products for maturation
-Finishing Tannins
-Barrel Protect