Wine Barrel Debate

The great wine barrel conflict is coming up in my mind again.  I have toyed with the idea of getting a barrel for a few years and I always find a reason to not get one.  Although I am getting closer, I still have a couple reasons to pause.
                The first reason is size.  Everyone always tells me that bigger is better and that I should buy a barrel under 25 gallons.  The reason is simply the surface to volume ratio.  I know other people who have very small barrels (8-13 gallon) and it is very easy to overoak a wine in them.  Of course, overoaking can happen in a 60 gallon barrel as well, but it takes a lot longer.  So, with this size of barrel comes the obvious problem of how to fill it.  This means I would have to make at least 30 gallons (to account for the angel’s share) of a wine and then put it in the barrel.  This is 500-600 lbs of grapes.  I do make a Cab Franc Merlot blend that is in total 500 lbs, but this means I would have to blend it before it went in the barrel.  Also, Cab franc and Merlot do not take oak as well as Cab Sauv, so I’d be hesitant to leave it in for a long time.  This means I might have the barrel empty, which I don’t want to do.  So, I'm thinking about making a batch of Cab Sauv to be the first rotation through the barrel.  However, this would mean making 500-600 lbs of Cab Sauv, which is a lot.  So, that alone is giving me pause.
                The second thing is the moisture content in my wine making area.  This is my basement. It has a poured concrete foundation and is mostly underground, but it gets very dry in the winter (as do most places in New England).  This might cause a problem with the barrel shrinking.  Although I have not heard of anyone having a problem with a full barrel, I’m not sure I want to take the chance.  Not only am I worried about the lack of moisture, I am concerned with the abundance of moisture in the summer.  I am concerned about mold that may form on the outside of the barrel.  This happens a little bit on the bottles in my cellar, so I’m not sure what will happen to the barrel.  Once again, another reason for pause.