What is meant by barrique? It is known that it is linked to wooden barrels but it is often improperly extended to all wooden containers, in this article we will tell you about the aging of wine in wood.

So what is a barrique for and what is it?

Let’s start from the definition: the “Barrique” is a small wooden barrel, normally with a capacity between 225 and 228 liters used for refining wine.

This makes us understand that there are various wooden containers which differ on the basis of the volume of wine contained, for example the tonneau with a capacity of 500 liters or the demi-barrique with a capacity of 110-115 litres. But there are also different types of barriques based on the original provenience of the barrel, for example the Bordeaux barrique has a capacity of 225 liters while that of Burgundy 228.

Now that we understand what it is, however, we must understand what it is for:

In general, the barrique is used in the refinement to round off the wines and produce a rounder sensation. But be careful the barrique also adds sensations to the wine (which generally fall within the tertiary aromas, more in detail here) which depend on the toasting and the type of wood used, a careless use can cover the terroir aromas with these sensations . It is therefore necessary to find the right balance between rounding and aromaticity and herein lies the art of our work.

In our case in Suvereto we have a soil and a climate that concentrate the bunch, from this derives a wine with a rich bouquet but also a fair dose of tannins, the rounding of the tannins in our cellar takes place with an aging of 12-18 months in lightly toasted French oak barriques, the barriques in our possession are generally only used for 2 years.

“Terradonnà is a family-run farm that has been producing oil and wine in Suvereto for more than 50 years. The main values that characterize our business are: the search for quality through the expression of the characteristics of the territory, the protection of the environment and the soil and, last but not least, the transposition of traditional production methods with modern winemaking techniques. In addition to the sale of wine and oil, at our business you can have tastings of the entire wine production, in the warm atmosphere of the Tuscan family. We offer experiences suited to your needs aimed at both connoisseurs and those taking their first steps in the world of wine.”