Wine Word of the Week: Bung
By Kori ~ September 20th, 2011.
This week’s Wine Word of the Week is bung.
Official definition from Jancis Robinson’s The Oxford Companion to Wine:
A bung, made of glass, plastic, rubber, earthenware, silicone, or wood, is a barrel’s stopper, analogous to the cork of a bottle. It is inserted in a bung-hole. ….
Since oxygen tends to enter a barrel around the bung-hole, silicone bungs are sometimes used to keep a particularly tight fit. ….
Depending on the amount of evaporation, and the spare time available to the winery staff, topping up is done anywhere from twice a week to once every six weeks. ….
Layman’s terms from Kori:
A bung is a closure used to seal a wine barrel.
Filed under: Wine Word of the Week