Disinfecting barrels using sulphur

When I posted about racking the barrels, I mistakenly wrote that burning the sulphuric strip ('Kénlap') inside the barrel, prior to putting the wine back in, was to clear the oxygen out.  I hadn't been sure about that, and subsequently read that it is actually to disinfect the barrel.

The image below from bkwine.com shows what the pros use - a wooden plug with an iron wire attached, that is used to burn sulphur pellets inside the barrel.  This seems safer than the method we used - attaching the sulphuric strip to a piece of wire and lowering it in and out again with great care not to drop it into the barrel - because if that happened it would be a nightmare to get it out!

Next racking will be in January. Until then, nothing much to do except enjoy the new wine. Luckily, the time of year for mulled wine is now upon us.  Since the white wine is not as good the red, I think we'll be mulling over that...