French Oak Barrels

We import our barrels directly from the best French coopers of small barrels.

They are "Center of France",   24 Months Air-Dried, "Medium Plus,"    fire toasted, for those lovely, sweet vanilla, spicy, toasty flavors.

We have your premium French oak barrels in stock, and ready to supply you!

 "What  Size Barrel Should I Get?" You'll  need 3 - 4 times the wine volume, the first year. First year barrels,  will oak four (4) times their volume, the first year. At least twice their  volume, the second year. Just their volume the third year. (So, with a new  50L/13.2 gallon barrel, you'll need ~50 gallons of wine. Rotate out the oaked  volume into glass/stainless, and re-fill with non-oaked wine. DO NOT OVEROAK ANY PART OF THE TOTAL VOLUME! It  takes a lot of un-oaked wine to balance out over-oaked wine. 

 Try not to have barrels  empty of wine, at any time!  The very best way to keep your  barrel sound/bacterial free, is to keep it full of your wine (without over-oaking  the wine). Everytime that you remove the bung, breaking the  vacuum, Top Up Your Barrel!  Top monthly, more often with smaller barrels.  

 What if I can't keep my  barrel full of wine?  Barrels smaller than 110L/30 gallons,  will need to be filled with an acid/SO2 solution  and topped just like it is full of wine. Unfortunately, you are pouring out all  that lovely barrel flavor when emptying. For more details see "How to Store Empty Barrels" below.

Not enough wine to justify buying a new barrel?   Try our Stavin, fire-toasted French oak "beans" and Staves.  As close to duplicating a new barrel as possible. 

CLICK HERE FOR INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR BARREL