cask ageing, winemaking practice of ageing a wine after fermentation (see élevage) in a large wooden container usually too old to impart any oak flavour. It may well, however, exert some wood influence and help considerably to achieve natural clarification and stabilization. White wines subjected to cask ageing for several months include some of the great white wines of the loire, germany, and alsace. Red wines subjected to cask ageing, sometimes for several years, include many of the traditional wines of the rhône, italy, spain, portugal, and greece.
