Burning a 30 hl cask takes 7 hours with 4 turnovers[/caption].
Wine professionals are well acquainted with Tonnellerie Rousseau, which for several years has hosted the Roi Chambertin tastings, as well as the Grands Jours de Bourgogne event. Rousseau is the only company in Burgundy to have the dual activity of classic cooperage and, much more rarely, foudrier, meaning producer of custom-designed and made-to-measure barrels and vats for vinification (often also for ageing and storage); a true "in-house" expertise. Foudrier is in fact the historic trade of this company, founded in 1957 by Julien Rousseau, the recently deceased grandfather of the current directors, Frédéric (Chairman), the manager, and his brother Jean-Christophe (Managing Director), the technician, Meilleur Ouvrier de France in cooperage. 2024 is a pivotal year for Tonnellerie Rousseau, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary and has just consolidated all its activities at the Gevrey-Chambertin site on the Côte de Nuits, built in 2015, with a €1 million investment in workshop expansion and modernization. By 2023, the company will have achieved sales of 15 million euros (60% from exports), with the production of 11,000 barrels, demi-muids, from 225 (Bordeaux barrels) to 600 liters, including of course the traditional Burgundian 228-liter barrels (80% of the 11,000 "fûts" produced), as well as 350 foudres and vats, which now account for around a third of sales. "The current trend is to increase demand for large containers, demi-muids, foudres... Everyone is looking to reduce the organoleptic impact of wood on the wine as much as possible", explains Frédéric Rousseau. The move also testifies to the cooperage's commitment to CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), and the carbon footprint is currently being assessed, with a view to future water and energy savings. The company is already 20% self-sufficient in electricity consumption, thanks to the deployment of solar trackers in 2023, and the aim is to rapidly reach 50%. Finally, you should know that a 228-liter oak barrel costs between €800 and €1,000 ex-VAT (a price that has risen by 20% in 3 years, in line with the 30% increase in the price of cooperage oak over the same period), and a 25-hectoliter cask costs around €15,000 ex-VAT.
Tonnellerie Rousseau in figures 70 years in business. Independent, family-run company based in Burgundy, in Gevrey-Chambertin (Côte de Nuits - 21). Expertise in cooperage (11,000 barrels) and tunsmithing (350 vats and tuns). 15 million euros in sales. Some fifty employees. 60% export to some thirty countries.
Environment
With 23.4% of the region's vineyards certified or in conversion, Burgundy-Franche-Comté is one of the winegrowing regions most committed to organic farming. However, behind this progression, the figures for 2024 show a clear slowdown in conversions: after ten years of continuous growth, organic viticulture is entering a phase of stabilization.
Techniques, vines and wines
Hillside viticulture imposes extraordinary working conditions. And when you add the choice of organic viticulture, the equation becomes even more complicated. Two major challenges arise. On the one hand, grass management, without chemical weedkillers, and on the other, disease management, with contact products to be renewed regularly. As a result, the [...]
Estates and Houses
With Thomas Bouley, once we'd got past the cordial welcome exchanges, our meeting immediately began with a tour of the vineyard bordering the estate. We exchanged views on pruning, took a handful of soil samples to illustrate that the soil is well aerated, alive and not compacted, and talked more generally about agronomy, our top priority [...].
