Oak Barrel Seepage

I’ve certainly had the odd leaker (or three) but I’ve never experienced trans-stave leakage of the scale that you describe. Before I delve any deeper, I first of all would like to say that your situation is unusual and one that warrants an immediate customer service call (read: complaint) to your barrel supplier. It is normal for barrels to need a little soaking up with water before they can be filled with wine. Sometimes we even need to go beyond the “instructions” and use hot water on the barrel head or something like that to properly swell up a barrel. Your type and scale of leakage, however, goes far beyond what is normal and in fact travels headlong into “product defect” category. Any self-respecting barrel supplier should show you the proper concern and offer to exchange your product. Let me describe why I believe your situation goes quite beyond the expected “new barrel” seeps and leaks most of us are used to. Oak barrels (and barrels made of other woods, sometimes acacia wood or even cherry wood) are really structurally