Would it be OK to break in a new wine barrel by barrel fermenting some apple cider? I don't want to "taint" the barrel with apple character that might pass on to subsequent wines.
For the purposes of making an initial foray into barrel use, I chickened out somewhat and went with a small, inexpensive 30 liter barrel made from Portuguese oak. I was going to go Hungarian until a friend found references that suggest Hungarian oak is fine for chips, but that they are harvesting the trees too young to produce quality barrel staves.
Brian