Cooperage today: Spain

Barrels have been important to the Spanish wine and sherry industries for centuries and the cooper’s craft is sustained there. In Jerez, new barrels are spurned for the maturation of fine sherry and will probably be used at least three times for fermentation before being used to mature a top-quality oloroso. The older a cask, the more expensive it is, and some bodegas boast casks (or butts as they are usually called here) that are more than 200 years old.