The best of oak
We begin with Haute Futaie French oak—trees aged 150-200 years with slow and steady growth for tight grain of utmost quality. Forests are monitored and chosen for their oak parcels.
Oak wood remains a natural material, and the variability is real and notable. Two trees, identical in appearance and growing side by side in the same forest, may have completely different chemical characteristics and thus produce barrels with very different sensorial impacts on wine.
After sorting and selection, rough staves are sent to our seasoning yards in carefully stacked pallets to undergo proactive maturation, which refines oak’s natural tannins over several years.
Oak barrels preserve a grape variety’s characteristics, flavors, aromas and terroir, while harmonizing these for greater complexity and texture.
Tight-grain oak’s porosity allows for minute amounts of evaporation and oxygenation, which helps round tannins and develop aromatics.
Toasting designed for specific aromatic profiles
Besides imparting aromatic notes (sensorial contribution) while impacting mouthfeel and roundness, toast helps refine a wine’s essence.
Beyond traditional fire-toasted barrels, we also offer some first shaped by hot water before toasting—the Aquaflex process, which lends subtle aromatics for delicate wines.
Adding the water-bending process to French oak barrel with acacia heads makes our Fraîcheur barrel, ideally suited for lighter white wines.
Oak Types, Barrel Shapes
Beyond various grains of French oak, we also feature American oak (aged either two years or three years), as well as Russian oak and Eastern European oak.
We cooper Bordeaux Export, Burgundy Export and thin-stave Château Transportand Bordeaux Château Ferre; with the option to add chestnut hooping for a Château Traditional barrel. In Napa, we cooper larger formats—265L barrels, 300L hogsheads and 500L puncheons. We also offer French-coopered 600L demi-muid and rotary micro-vinificators.
QTT Barrel
QTT, or the molecules quercotriterpenosides, come from the result of extensive R&D and holds an Institute of Vine and Wine Sciences (ISVV) and Seguin Moreau patent. QTT play a key role in sensory profiles of wines aged in barrels, responsible for the sensation of “sugariness” and sweetness in dry wines. This barrel enhances the structure of wines while preserving their expression of fruit and their vineyard identity.
TONNELLERIE PLANTAGENET
We are also the exclusive agent in North America for Tonnellerie Plantagenet, a cooperage headed by Marc Plantagenet and featuring Burgundian-style toasts.
