An innovation we developed was to use steam and hot water to bend the barrels. This method allows a further extraction of those molecules that with the subsequent toasting step would turn into vanillin, furfural and other volatile compounds, which are desirable on certain types of wine, but not on some delicate styles of white and red wines. The objective is to provide a barrel that can be more respectful of the type of grape, of the fruit of the wine, and most suitable to refine wines with more delicate aromas, without losing the technical advantage resulting from the use of the oak barrel.
