puncheon

An oak barrel (cask) that is of a particular size ranging from 70-100 gallons. This large barrel is used by many of the estates of the Cote D'Or Burgundy region of France. The belief is that when dealing with a wine of high acidities, high alcohols, and strength of pH, the use of these larger sized barrels allows stronger and stricter controls in the development of a wine due to the increase in the inner barrel surface to wine ratio.