At Cru Barréjats, we are convinced that barriques must not be used to flavour wine, we consider them very beautiful winemaking tools that allow us to clarify our wines through long aging and nothing more than racking, thus avoiding filtering or fining during aging.

The better the must, the more substance a wine has and the better it “makes friends” with the wood. We prefer to put the less concentrated juices into used barriques or steel tanks and use them for our second wines.

Obviously this means trusting your cooper, being demanding on the choice of wood, their fineness, their grain, their toasting must be well suited to the wine. Excessive toasting causes excessive aromas of vanilla or smoky aromas. There is no secret, you have to taste, taste, taste, in order to know what you are getting.

Oakiness will always be present when one works with new barriques on principle. This oakiness must be tamed, it must be integrated: the longer the aging in barrique, the better it will be