🍷 Tinaja

A tinaja is a large clay jar for wine and oil, traditional in Spain. It is an old vessel, similar to Roman amphorae and big clay containers.

Tinajas are made of fired clay. They can be as tall as a person and hold hundreds of litres. Inside, the clay lets in a little air, so the wine "breathes" in it. At the same time the walls do not add the smell of wood to the wine. Tinajas are used in Andalusia, especially in Montilla-Moriles, and also in La Mancha, where tinajas of wine were a common sight in cellars.

In the past wine fermented and was stored in tinajas, and so was olive oil. Later concrete and steel tanks replaced them, but in recent years interest in clay vessels has returned. Winemakers use them to keep an old tradition and for a particular taste. They are vessels of the same type as Georgian qvevri and other clay wine containers. The tinaja is a reminder that wine was made not only in barrels but also in clay.