barrique

noun

bar·​rique bä-ˈrēk 

plural barriques

: an oak barrel used for storing wine

The insides of these barriques are typically "toasted," literally burnt, to varying degrees, adding a complexity and color to the wine that traditionalists dub nonindigenous and blasphemous.

—Matthew Gavin Frank, Barolo, 2010

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, "barrel," going back to Middle French

First Known Use

1789, in the meaning defined above

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