The word “butt” refers to what in a Spanish winery?
A. An underground cellar where the oldest wines are kept
B. A barrel used to age Sherry
C. A cigar-shaped tool for sampling old Riojas
D. The remaining solids leftover after the white grapes for Cava are pressed
B.
So-called “butts” are 600-liter (160-gallon) American oak barrels used in the Jerez (Sherry) region of Spain for aging Sherry. Butts are nearly three times larger than a Bordeaux barrel, and are usually painted jet-black. Because the butts are arranged in rows four or five barrels high, and because a typical Sherry bodega has many thousands of such barrels, the visual impression is often startling. Butts are also known as botas in Jerez.