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January 2018 WINES&VINES 113 OAK BARRELS who would be willing to teach Herrera even more insights on the craft of making barrels. Everything came together in 2014, when Herrera was able to build the first 50 Caldwell barrels in time for that year's harvest. Since then, the barrel program has steadily increased, and the barrels are now used for nearly all of the winery's production. Petiteaux purchases the stave wood in France and focuses on finding oak with both tight grain and exceptional grain structure. Marke said they want staves with at least 30 months of air drying. While they have enjoyed good re- sults with wood from the Jupilles forest, grain tightness and structure is more important than forest of origin, Marke said. Petiteaux was able to purchase a log during a re- cent auction, and that stave wood is currently seasoning. Marke ex- pects to receive those barrels for the 2019 vintage, at the latest. Each year, Herrera flies to France and spends several weeks at a leased cooperage space in Co- gnac assembling and toasting the Caldwell barrels from wood pur- chased three years prior. Herrera also toasts and assembles pun- cheons for the winery. "The big win for us is we have one guy who does all the toasting," Marke said. That same guy is also at the winery the rest of the year to handle any issues with the barrels he put together himself. "After he makes the barrels, he's here," Marke said. "He's the one that is popping off the heads before putting in the grapes, so he's here for the whole thing. Any issues, any leaks, he's the guy and he's here on-site." It also means Marke is assured he's going to get exactly what he specifies when he wants some barrels toasted a certain length of time or assembled in a certain way. The lines of communication are much more direct. Transitioning to essentially a single cooperage has required Marke to reevaluate the barrel program once more. "My role is to basically try and get it to repli- cate the success we had with mul- tiple coopers," he said. "It's quite an interesting project. I'm learn- ing more about barrels––even more than I had." The trials are ongoing, as Marke constantly evaluates what toasts and techniques, such as water-bending staves, he needs to Ramiro Herrera trained in France to become a master cooper and now builds around 300 barrels per year for Caldwell Vineyard. Custom made - Handcrafted Barrels | (707) 775-7065 | Quercusconcepts@gmail.com www.OakAlternatives.com P E P E | (707) 775-7065 | Quercusconcepts@gmail.com www.OakAlternatives.com S U P E R I O R O A K A L T E R N A T I V E S A C U T A B O V E