The fine wines of the Langhe > Barrels and Barriques

The barrel

It is a small wood container (usually chest or durmast tree) which has a capacity of 30-60 litres. It used to be employed mainly for transporting the wine from the cellar to the shop; nowadays it has choreographic functions, for sweet wine conservation.

The "barrique"

It is an oak barrel, which has a capacity of 225 litres. Originally employed for red (and sometimes white) wine refining in France, it spread enormously in California, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Since the Eighties its employment has become common also in Italian cellars, especially for “international taste” wines, such as Cabernet and Chardonnay. For its construction, it is preferred oak trees coming from the French Central Massif, whose wood gives wine intense spice and vanilla aromas.

The cask

It is a wood container which is cylindrical-shaped, and has its centre rounded. For its construction different trees are utilized, according to local traditions. However, the most common ones are chest and oak trees, especially durmast from Slovenia. There are no coded capacities for casks, but there is a certain homogeneity as afar as dimension and aspect.