Weingut Lingenfelder Estate - Production of Barriques at Francois Freres, our french cooper

Vineyards & Cellar

Production of Barriques at Francois Freres, our french cooper

39KB	In the picture on the left, the French cooper is splitting the trunk of an oak tree for the production of staves. This is a sophisticated form of making staves as the structure of the wood defines the form of the staves. In contrast, the German and American coopers saw the trunks into staves. This produces more staves per trunk but not of the same quality.
34KB	The next step is to saw the split staves.
17KB	Up to this point the staves are rectangular.
31KB	In this rectangular form the stave will be stored for the next 2-4 years to dry. The quality of the barrique relates directly to the storage time. The picture on the left shows the large storage facility in Burgundy of our cooper Francois Freres.
7KB	Once the drying is completed the process continues. The smaller edges of each stave will be sawed in a way that provides it with the necessary angle for the construction of a barrique.
35KB 40KB	Here is a fermentation lock. It is a closure for a wine tank which allows The staves are now assembled in a metal ring (see: No1). They are then heated over a fire and simultaneously moistened with water. This makes the staves elastic and they can then be bent into shape with steel ropes (see: No3 above or the picture beneath). In the picture above Barrique No2 has already been bent into shape whilst No4 shows the effect of the open fire. The staves have been charred. This process is called Toasting and barriques can be toasted to either light, medium or heavy levels depending on how long the spend over the fire.
38KB	Here, the production of the head of the barrique is shown. The cooper is making an assemblage of boards which will form the head of the barrique.
33KB	This is the end assembly point where the barriques receive the heads, the hoops (the metal rings encircling the barrique) and the bung hole.
41KB	This is the warehouse where the barriques are stored until they are delivered – to LINGENFELDER in Grosskarlbach for example. For our Spätburgunder wines we use mostly French oak. The tremendous quality of Francois Freres barriques and the ideal harmony of French oak with wine makes a perfect match for the grape variety Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir).