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BARRELS ging shortage," he added. Lower timber prices are deterring loggers from looking for wood, and the younger generation isn't following in their logger parents' footsteps. When the mill does receive a shipment, the logs are stripped of bark and then cut into quarter segments. Those quarters are cut into staves, which then have their rough sides and any sapwood cut off, and are cut into stave or heading sizes. Most of the staves Staggemeyer produces are for 225liter barrels, but he also can cut staves for 300-liter barrels. The loggers selectively harvest the forests, which have been naturally sustained. When the mill was built in the late 1950s, the expectation was that it would cut all the nearby trees in a few years and close. "Fifty-five years later, we're still here cutting the wood, so that's a good sign," Staggemeyer said. A.A. A finished stave (right) is compared to one from the seasoning yard. barrels are sent to a sprawling cooperage in Lebanon, Mo. Spirit barrels also are made in Lebanon—but it is Lebanon, Ky., not Missouri. In addition to its U.S. operations, the company also owns and operates cooperages in France, Chile and Australia. When loggers have timber for the stave mill, they truck the logs to the yard and spread them out for inspection by one of the company's buyers. These hawk-eyed veterans quickly appraise the wood using ISC's detailed criteria for stave logs. The wood must be the right species of oak and free of any defects that could produce unusable logs. Buyers measure the length and diameter and use the Doyle Scale, which accounts for the loss of total volume from sawing, to determine total board footage versus any visible flaws. A buyer will reject any log that contributes less than 70% usable wood. Reviewing 60 to 70 logs can take a skilled buyer just five to 10 minutes. ISC has a comprehensive policy on what makes an acceptable piece of wood and the log defects that make timber unusable for staves. That doesn't mean loggers don't do their best to extol the qualities of their logs in the hopes of swaying a buyer or deliver the logs dirty in an attempt to cover up knots and other mars. "That's why a lot of guys don't like to sell logs in the rain, because all the defects show up," says buyer Chad Cook. "A lot of guys don't like to sell logs in the rain, because all the defects show up" —Chad Cook, ISC buyer It would be hard to pull one over on Cook, a veteran buyer who worked his way into the position from the sawmill floor. Cook, like most of his ISC colleagues, is paid by how well he meets his quality-control parameters. Every log Cook buys is tagged with a code, and that log is tracked through the milling process. If the logs Cook purchases don't yield an ideal number of staves, Cook isn't doing the best he can as a buyer. View from Missouri is positive In the Kirbys' forest near Higbee, Dale Kirby explains that the cold winters are necessary for the tight growth rings of quality oak. He credits the region's poor clay soils for causing a slow rate of growth that produces tight grain. CA: Tim OLSON MERCIER Tel. (707) 321 9640 tim@mercierbarrels.com Win es & Vin es F EB RUA RY 20 14 37