At the trade fair Sitevi in Montpellier, several alternatives to expensive new wooden barrels were presented. As the industry magazine Vitisphere reports, barrel manufacturers are using sorted-out wood, refurbishing used barrels, and optimizing the processing. This allows them to offer barrels made from high-quality wood for significantly less money than the 700 euros that cheap new barriques now cost at a minimum. For standard and premium barrels, prices currently range between 1,000 and 1,400 euros.

A refurbished barrique, where a few millimeters of wood are sanded down and the barrel is re-toasted, costs only about 320 euros. The company Vicard combines high-quality but too narrow woods into standard staves. This way, they utilize three percent more of the available wood. With the help of laser cutting technology, they also use wood from the upper part of the oak. Such barrels also cost less than 700 euros.

More and more cooperages are using woods with optical or aesthetic defects that were previously sorted out, even though they have the same chemical properties. In large containers, the so-called "zigzag wood" is used in the lower part, which results in savings of 15 to 20 percent. After three years of research and development, barrels made from mechanically joined two-layer staves were recently presented. This allows for the use of 40 percent of the available oak wood instead of the usual 15 to 20 percent. Such barriques are also very affordable. The perfection of processing and the materials used, such as optimized wood lengths, smaller accessories, and less metal, enable cost reductions of up to 20 percent.

The barrel-making industry ("Tonnellerie") in France is struggling with significant sales declines. The prices for French oak wood have tripled in the past ten years.

(al; Image: Tonnellerie Sylvain)

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