The barrel is not a salon ornament. It is a porous vessel: it lets in a thread of oxygen and yields aromas of the toast —vanilla, bread, cocoa, coconut, according to the oak and the fire.
American or French
American is usually more explicit (coconut, vanilla). French, spicier and tighter. Neither should cover Monastrell. Good wood is noticed; excessive wood is shouted.
On the visit
The barrel room is one of the stops on the walk. A 12-month wine is better understood when the empty wood and the full wood have been smelled.