{"id":1563,"date":"2026-07-24T10:55:48","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T10:55:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/crafting-our-wines\/barrel-ageing\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T21:11:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T21:11:34","slug":"barrel-ageing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/crafting-our-wines\/barrel-ageing\/","title":{"rendered":"Barrel ageing"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"1563\" class=\"elementor elementor-1563 elementor-927\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2b8ed2ed e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"2b8ed2ed\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" id=\"main-box-content\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-66dc72f2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"66dc72f2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1>Barrel ageing<\/h1>\n<p>Once wines have been through both fermentation processes, and the sediment or lees have been removed, the wine is then ready to be aged in 225 litre Bordeaux size barrels in our underground cellars, in conditions of perfect temperature and absolute tranquillity.\u00a0 All in all some 14.000 American oak barrels are perfectly ordered in the 6.000 square metres of cellar space.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fcrianza.jpg\" alt=\"crianza\" width=\"515\" height=\"300\" \/><span class=\"pie\">Wine ageing in 225 litre American oak barrels<\/span><\/p>\n<p>During this period, a very slow process of oxidation (esterification) takes place through the pores of the wood, which play an important part in the development of the wine\u2019s bouquet. This biological process is complemented by periodic rackings (once or twice a year), to remove the sediment that settles in the bottom of the barrels. Our rackings are carried out with rigorous precision, so that the impurities are in contact with clean wine the shortest time possible.\u00a0 It goes without saying that the barrel is never turned up to stand vertically throughout the racking process.<\/p>\n<p>In other words, anything that might prejudice the good evolution of the wine in question is painstakingly removed, while the elements that contribute to flavour are kept.<\/p>\n<p>Ageing wines should be seen as a pedagogic act; the wine is \u201ceducated&#8221;, and hence should never be rushed through speeded-up improvisations which would destroy the biological process which give it its character.\u00a0 Wines need to spend a minimum of three years in barrels to begin to manifest their \u201ceducation\u201d.\u00a0 Ten years is the maximum barrel ageing permitted in the Rioja Alta region, and anything more than six years is unusual unless the wines are destined to become Gran Reservas.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Barrel ageing Once wines have been through both fermentation processes, and the sediment or lees have been removed, the wine is then ready to be aged in 225 litre Bordeaux size barrels in our underground cellars, in conditions of perfect temperature and absolute tranquillity.\u00a0 All in all some 14.000 American oak barrels are perfectly ordered [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1553,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"plantilla":[47],"class_list":["post-1563","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","plantilla-caja"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Barrel ageing - R. L\u00f3pez de Heredia Vi\u00f1a Tondonia, S.A.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/crafting-our-wines\/barrel-ageing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Barrel ageing - R. L\u00f3pez de Heredia Vi\u00f1a Tondonia, S.A.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Barrel ageing Once wines have been through both fermentation processes, and the sediment or lees have been removed, the wine is then ready to be aged in 225 litre Bordeaux size barrels in our underground cellars, in conditions of perfect temperature and absolute tranquillity.\u00a0 All in all some 14.000 American oak barrels are perfectly ordered [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/crafting-our-wines\/barrel-ageing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"R. L\u00f3pez de Heredia Vi\u00f1a Tondonia, S.A.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Bodegas-R-Lpez-de-Heredia-Via-Tondonia\/137759092945640\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-01T21:11:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fcrianza.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\\\/en\\\/crafting-our-wines\\\/barrel-ageing\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\\\/en\\\/crafting-our-wines\\\/barrel-ageing\\\/\",\"name\":\"Barrel ageing - R. L\u00f3pez de Heredia Vi\u00f1a Tondonia, S.A.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\\\/en\\\/crafting-our-wines\\\/barrel-ageing\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\\\/en\\\/crafting-our-wines\\\/barrel-ageing\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/fcrianza.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-24T10:55:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-01T21:11:34+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\\\/en\\\/crafting-our-wines\\\/barrel-ageing\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\\\/en\\\/crafting-our-wines\\\/barrel-ageing\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\\\/en\\\/crafting-our-wines\\\/barrel-ageing\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/fcrianza.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/fcrianza.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\\\/en\\\/crafting-our-wines\\\/barrel-ageing\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Portada\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Crafting our wines\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\\\/en\\\/la-elaboracion\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Barrel ageing\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"R. L\u00f3pez de Heredia Vi\u00f1a Tondonia, S.A.\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"R. L\u00f3pez de Heredia Vi\u00f1a Tondonia, S.A.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/logo-1.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/logo-1.svg\",\"width\":1524,\"height\":624,\"caption\":\"R. L\u00f3pez de Heredia Vi\u00f1a Tondonia, S.A.\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/pages\\\/Bodegas-R-Lpez-de-Heredia-Via-Tondonia\\\/137759092945640\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Barrel ageing - R. L\u00f3pez de Heredia Vi\u00f1a Tondonia, S.A.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/crafting-our-wines\/barrel-ageing\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Barrel ageing - R. L\u00f3pez de Heredia Vi\u00f1a Tondonia, S.A.","og_description":"Barrel ageing Once wines have been through both fermentation processes, and the sediment or lees have been removed, the wine is then ready to be aged in 225 litre Bordeaux size barrels in our underground cellars, in conditions of perfect temperature and absolute tranquillity.\u00a0 All in all some 14.000 American oak barrels are perfectly ordered [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/crafting-our-wines\/barrel-ageing\/","og_site_name":"R. L\u00f3pez de Heredia Vi\u00f1a Tondonia, S.A.","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Bodegas-R-Lpez-de-Heredia-Via-Tondonia\/137759092945640","article_modified_time":"2026-08-01T21:11:34+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fcrianza.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/crafting-our-wines\/barrel-ageing\/","url":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/crafting-our-wines\/barrel-ageing\/","name":"Barrel ageing - R. L\u00f3pez de Heredia Vi\u00f1a Tondonia, S.A.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/crafting-our-wines\/barrel-ageing\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/crafting-our-wines\/barrel-ageing\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fcrianza.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-24T10:55:48+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-01T21:11:34+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/crafting-our-wines\/barrel-ageing\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/crafting-our-wines\/barrel-ageing\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/crafting-our-wines\/barrel-ageing\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fcrianza.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/fcrianza.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/crafting-our-wines\/barrel-ageing\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Portada","item":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Crafting our wines","item":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/la-elaboracion\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Barrel ageing"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/","name":"R. L\u00f3pez de Heredia Vi\u00f1a Tondonia, S.A.","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/#organization","name":"R. L\u00f3pez de Heredia Vi\u00f1a Tondonia, S.A.","url":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/logo-1.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/logo-1.svg","width":1524,"height":624,"caption":"R. L\u00f3pez de Heredia Vi\u00f1a Tondonia, S.A."},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Bodegas-R-Lpez-de-Heredia-Via-Tondonia\/137759092945640"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1563"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1564,"href":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1563\/revisions\/1564"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"plantilla","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lopezdeheredia.destinoexterior.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/plantilla?post=1563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}