Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/210765
BARRELS (Continued from page 47.) auditing of its wood purchases and applies its own traceability program. Nadalie said the cooperage controls 98% of its supply, essentially everything except the hoops. In addition to the tight-grain French oak Elite and Colbert barrels, Nadalie also sells its Symphony barrel, which is made from the tightest grain American oak the cooperage can find from forests in Minnesota, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The Symphony staves are aged for 24 months, but Nadalie will season them for 36 months on request, which Vincent Nadalie said has become more popular. "I see more and more 36-month aging in American oak; that's the demand," he said. A few coopers practice even longer seasoning. Taransaud Tonnellerie offers its fiveyear-aged T5 barrel and Francois Frères has a 48-month barrel. Earlier this year, T.W. Boswell released its new Cool Climate Series of barrels with 36-month-aged, tight-grain wood to emphasis the fruit of higher acid, cooler climate wines. In 2012 Tonnellerie Quintessence launched its "hydrodynamique" program, which uses a specialized tank to circulate water around barrel staves to extract tannin to create a finished barrel that offers a gentler touch; Tonnellerie O also offers barrels made with staves that have undergone its sous l'eau water soak of 12 to 18 hours to extract some of the oak's harsher tannins. In addition to grain and seasoning time, barrel toast plays a pivotal role in the interplay between wine and oak. Lighter, complex toasts to showcase fruit A worker lays out American oak staves for barrel assembly at the Nadalie USA cooperage in Calistoga, Calif. Tonnellerie Vicard, which is distributed in the United States by Bouchard Cooperages that has an office in Napa, Calif., unveiled two new toasts this year Jean-Cristophe Varron developed the Vinea line of oak alternatives and the new toasting system used to produce the Éclat barrels. designed to impart a softer oak presence and highlight fruit characteristics. Bouchard Cooperages' international manager Gary Chappell said Vicard's new Gradual Toast and Chauffe Blanche toasts are the result of a shift in appetite Search Online for BARRELS Winery Suppliers Cooperage Packaging Tasting Rooms Winery Equipment Winery Services Winery Supplies ONLINE SEARCH ® W W W. W I N E S A N D V I N E S B U Y E R S G U I D E . C O M 50 W in es & V i ne s DEC E M b e r 20 13 707-938-1300 info@acrolon.com