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BARRELS

nished wine are: volatile phenols containing THE COOPER’S CRAFT
vanillin; carbohydrate degradation products The word “cooper” originates from the barrel
containing furfural, a component yielding a makers of Illyria and Cisalpine in Gaul, where
sweet and toasty aroma; “oak” lactones impar- wine was stored in wooden vessels called “cu-
ting a woody aroma; terpenes to provide “tea” pals,” and the maker was a “cuparius.” If your
and “tobacco” notes, and hydrolysable tannins surname is “Cooper” or “Hooper” you can bet
which are important to the relative astringen- that some of your ancestors were employed in
cy or “mouth feel” of the wine. the time-honored craft of cooperage.
The chemistry of the oak barrel can impart Organized coopers’ guilds originated in Ro-
differing amounts and qualities of flavour and me well before the Christian Era. They grew and
texture depending upon the barrel manu- flourished throughout medieval Europe and re-
facturing techniques and type of oak used. ached the apex in the late 19th century, before
American oak (Quercus alba) versus French dwindling rapidly in the years following World
oak (Quercus robur), sawn versus hand-split, War I, as other materials, first metals and then
air-drying vs. kiln drying of the staves, and synthetics, replaced the wooden vessels for-
the use of boiling water, steam, natural gas, or merly used throughout the household for wa-
wood fire to bend the staves are among the shing, churning, eating, cooking, and storage.
most important variables in the manufactu- To understand why this profession is so high-
ring process. As you can imagine, the barrel ly skilled and specialized - with an appren-
makers and wine makers all over the world ticeship even today of seven years’ duration
hold widely differing opinions on the best way - let’s go through the steps required to make
to make a barrel! One thing we can all agree on a wine barrel. Keep in mind that both the pro-
is that barrel making is an extremely complica- cedure and the tools have remained relatively
ted craft - there are no amateur barrel makers! unchanged for the past three thousand years.
Bodegas Trapiche, Mendoza, Argentina

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