The history of the wineskin is lost in the mists of time. There are written documents referring to wineskins which date back to Ancient Greece (Homer's Odyssey relates how Odysseus makes the Cyclops Polyphemus drunk by giving him wine from wineskins) and the Bible (Noah's sons inebriate him). Wineskins appear in Don Quixote (when the old nobleman destroys the innkeeper's skins with his sword) and references multiply throughout the Golden Century of Spanish literature.

Light, flexible, hardwearing, environmentally-friendly, easy-to-fill, waterproof, practical, hygienic, attractive, simply-but-perfectly-designed, wineskins are both a legacy from the past and a product free of the shackles of fashion, widely appreciated by those who know how to enjoy the simple pleasures of life.

Preparation of the Raw Materials

The raw materials we use to manufacture our products are:

• Skin
• Tanning products
• Waterproofing (pitch)
• Thread and twines
• Nozzles

Skin

Choosing the skin
The commonest skin used for wineskins is goat. This skin is harder-wearing than other types and it also offers the flexibility required for later use and makes work easier for the craftsman manufacturing the product.

Removing the skin
Closed removal
This method is used for the manufacture of wineskins. It begins with the way in which the animal is slaughtered. This is done in such a way that the skin is kept as complete as possible without knife-cuts and leaving the entire length of the neck as untouched as possible.

It is also important to skin the animal by hilt and not by knife, which should be used as little as possible. Hanging the animal upside-down from one of its rear legs, it is skinned by pulling the skin down towards the head, leaving the legs complete, except the one the process is started on.

Open Removal
The skin is removed with a knife opening from "top to bottom" and opening the entire skin, leaving it spread and stretched. Skinning should be performed by hilt so as to damage the skin as little as possible. This method is the commonest method nowadays and is used for wineskin-making.

Cleaning the skin
Fat and flesh is scraped, not cut, from the skin using knives and small scythes How this work is carried out depends on whether the open or closed removal system is used.

Tanning products

Tannin: Tannin is extracted from tree bark. The bark is ground to flour. Different types of tree are normally used: pine, Holm oak, ink plants or, most commonly nowadays, mimosa. The main purpose of tanning is to convert the skin into an inorganic product so that it does not rot. Tanning also lends body to the skin, while leaving the pores soft. Spanish olive oil or fish oils are then spread over the inner face of the skin to lend it flexibility and protection for the manufacturing process and increase its lifespan.

Only skins used for wineskins with pitch waterproofing are tanned.

Closed skins used for the transportation of oil did not used to be tanned. These skins were cleaned and their natural waterproofing qualities were conserved. The oil itself, which slowly seeped through over the years, acted as a preservative. When the skin no longer retained oil, it could not be used for this purpose, so the craftsman extracted the oil using fuller's earth and then tanned it for use as wineskin. These practices have all but disappeared.

There are cultures which still use non-tanned skins. In Africa, for example, they are used to carry water. The hair, on the outside, is soaked to keep the water fresh on long journeys through the desert. In other rural cultures, even in Spain, skins of this kind are used to "rock" milk to and fro to make butter and curd cheese. One traveler once told me that in India there are still places where skins are used to hold the water employed to clean the streets.

Pitch

Pitch is a resinous product extracted from trees, mainly pine and juniper. Purified at very high temperatures, it is prepared for use as waterproofing for the inside of tanned skin, mainly used for wine containers.

Thread and twines

The commonest threads used nowadays are made of flax, while the twines for stitching are mainly cotton. Hemp was used for all stitching work until 1970s.

Nozzles

The commonest nozzles nowadays for traditional wineskins are made of pressed resin, also known as bakelite. "Bullhorn" wood used to be used and plastic nozzles can also be found.