Two Girls and Lots and Lots of Barrels

First, we would like to apologize to our loyal readers for the break in postings.  Denise and Marissa took back-to-back vacations over the last two weeks (alas, the demands of wine tasting and blogging required a break!)  

Since we claimed we would drink a whole barrel of wine, our resident Sommelier-friend suggested that we do a cooperage tour to actually learn about the barrel-making process.  As you may know, most wines are aged to some extent in oak barrels - in this region both French and American oak are primarily used.  

So last week we visited Winemakers' Cooperage in Cloverdale, CA and were treated to a fantastic tour by one of the owners, Quinn.  Decked out in neon yellow vests and protective eye-wear, we joined a group from our friend's restaurant.  The whole hour+ was chalk full of education.  We learned about nearly every aspect of the cooperage process, starting with the age of the trees and which parts of the oak logs can be used for barrels down to the different degrees of barrel toasting specified by wine-makers.  When you think about the biological make-up of the logs, the shape of the staves (slats of wood), and the direction of the wood grain, it's an art-form in itself to deconstruct a log, knowing it will directly impact the flavor of the wines later stored.   We were also struck by how traditional the process is.  All stages of constructing and seasoning the barrels seem to be done by an actual person, which was interesting considering how many modern tools and materials are available.  For example, the barrels are constructed using dove-tailed slats for the heads, which are fitted into grooves with a flour/water paste; a man still moves each barrel over fire pits while tossing oak chips in to keep the fire at the right temperature; and the hoops are in many stages, hammered by hand into place.  This is not to say that there aren't gigantic machines everywhere that aid in the process (making sure the hoops are at the right height, routing out the grooves for the barrel heads, etc.)  But the manual aspects of the construction really stood out as an illustration of the commitment to wine as an art-form and not just a commodity.  Winemakers' Cooperage had at least a dozen guys at a time actually building barrels (this is their slow season) and cranking out a mere (yet impressive) 40 barrels a day.

Though it was clear that each stage of the cooperage process plays a particular and critical role in achieving the right wine-aging components, it was the toasting stage where our senses actually got to experience the effect of the oak.  The characteristics that we've tasted in many of the wines we drink were present in the air as we witnessed this process - including, vanilla, spices, smokiness.  It was pretty cool!

Our question of the week is: Do you have any questions for us?  Go ahead, ask us your barrel questions, test our listening skills.  We look forward to hearing from you.