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.


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