Storage of wine in a barrel in order to subject it to a maturation process. Barrels can be made of various materials such as stainless steel, wood, concrete, glass or ceramic, but barrel ageing usually refers to a wooden barrel. Barrel size, barrel age, barrel wood type and the type of production have a major influence on the course and length of the ageing process. The type of barrel ultimately used depends primarily on the desired style of wine. It is often not clear from a wine description in which type of wooden barrel the wine was matured, as the type of maturation is not required by wine law.
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Dominik Trick
Technischer Lehrer, staatl. geprüfter Sommelier, Hotelfachschule Heidelberg