More and more wineries are introducing clay jars in their winemaking processes. Clay jars had fallen into disuse due to their fragility and difficulty in cleaning, and wine in a jar offers pure flavors and differs from the homogenization of wood.
According to Rosana Lisa, oenologist and head of R&D at the Riojan winery Ramón Bilbao, the amphora brings more purity and sincerity to the wines due to the porosity of the material, allowing the constant entry of oxygen. This characteristic reinforces the texture of the wines, providing greater smoothness and volume.
"In general, what we are seeing is that they are fruitier, fresher wines, which give a greater expression of the terroir," says Fernando Rodríguez, general director of the winery. pradorey, from the Ribera del Duero.
Since 2015, Ramón Bilbao has been using clay jars from Italy. They keep around twenty thousand liters of wine a year. However, these jars are not used for fermentation, but only for the wine refining process.
In addition to Ramon Bilbao, the Pradorey winery has also produced wine in jars since 2016. The winery, located in the Ribera del Duero, acquired several old jars that were restored to highlight the character of the terroir and the grapes, reducing the influence of the oenological processes. The jars are used for various processes, depending on the wine label. Pradorey estimates that approximately one hundred thousand liters of wine per year pass through his jars.
"What we are looking for is not so much a trend, it is not so much one more extravagance in the elaboration, but we understand that it is a elaboration philosophy that allows us to promote that differentiation of the vineyards", points out Fernando Rodríguez.
The autochthonous grape and the wine in a jar.
More Than Wines is one of the wineries that has always been clear about the quality that the jars contribute to the wine. Located in the Toledo town of Dos Barrios, it is one of the precursors of this method, since 1999 they have been making wine in the traditional way. In addition, they have always used native grape varieties. The clay does not transmit aromas to the wine and respects the qualities of the grape, unlike the barrels.
«We have always made wine in a jar, since we started twenty-five years ago. And we were clear that we wanted to work with autochthonous varieties and make wines with the usual tradition”, says Margarita Madrigal, one of the winery's partners.
Underground cellar of jars.
The winery Celler del Roure, located in Moixent (Valencia), made a discovery in 2007 when the family that owned it acquired a nearby farm. In this farm, they found around a hundred underground clay jars from remote times. The technical director of the winery, Pablo Calatayud, affirms that this find is considered a true treasure.
After this discovery, the winery felt the obligation to make wine the old-fashioned way. They currently have twenty-four jars in operation that generate around one hundred thousand bottles, also using native grapes as raw material.
"It is clear that there are some old varieties that are very well aged in a jar", points out Calatayud, who also considers that "a good thing about the jars is precisely the purity of the wines, since they do not add flavors or aromas as yes what happens with the barrels ».
Pablo Calatayud, technical director of Celler del Roure, argues that the excessive use of wood in winemaking tends to homogenize flavors, even in wines from different geographical areas and grape varieties. For him, many wineries are going back to using clay jars to recover the differentiation that has been lost.
