Coopers: workshops that have become multinationals!

What technique has more profoundly impacted the wine world over the past 30 years than aging in oak barrels? Once a simple means of storage and transport, the barrel has become a true tool for enhancing quality. The barrel has had, and continues to have, its detractors, convinced that the woody aromas it imparts to wines during aging only distort them; some wines have proven, and still prove, them right. The debate was heated in certain regions, particularly in Bordeaux, where heavily oaked wines were lauded by critics, notably the American Robert Parker. Burgundy was not immune to the controversy surrounding a subject that, in reality, has been settled by the vast majority of producers; yes, today, apart from a few very high-level cuvées (at Chablis , in the Beaujolais (particularly in the case of Burgundy, but also Alsace), almost all of the greatest wines, both red and white, are aged in oak barrels. Barrel aging has truly come into its own and lives up to its name, allowing many great wines to gain in finesse and complexity, to "grow" through long maturation in oak barrels. In this general context, the first to benefit were logically the coopers, to the point that simple workshops... villages have become true multinationals in just a few decades.

Find below the article that Bourgogne Aujourd'hui devoted to this true "revolution" in its 25 years in Burgundy issue, published in October 2019.

“When I started in 1973, the industry was practically dead, with coopers often employing only one person. Things began to change in the 1980s. While barrel making was neglected, the Americans took an interest. Robert Parker praised French oak and wood, and this continued until the 2000s. Today, a cooperage employs an average of twenty-five to forty people. Barrel making can even be custom-made. While the average price of a 228-liter barrel is between €650 and €750, it can exceed €1,000. Wood prices have changed dramatically. Staves cost around €3,500 per cubic meter, but depending on the wood's origin, prices increase, as with the Tronçais forest, where it's closer to €5,600 per cubic meter.” "There are of course cooperages elsewhere than in France, with oak for example in Eastern European countries, but there is a history and a quality with our national wood, and guarantees for our forests which are managed by the ONF," explains Jean-Marie Rousseau, general manager of the Rousseau cooperage and president of the Union of Coopers of Burgundy and associated regions.

Large containers are in fashion

Many cooperages have also diversified their production by manufacturing large containers. "At Rousseau, we started with a large-capacity cask business in 1954," explains Jean-Marie. "The barrel arrived in 1985. For the past few years, large containers have been booming because they meet consumer demand for wines with less pronounced oak influence. And even though large casks have a much longer lifespan than barrels, around forty years, they also need to be replaced, which estates are gradually doing." While expertise and human skill remain paramount in barrel making, some tasks have been mechanized using machines such as hydraulic presses or automatic trimmers. The Monnot company, based in Beaune , is also a world leader in the world of cooperage machinery. Cooperage schools exist for training in the trade. "In Burgundy, the wine-growing high school of Beaune "The program trains between twelve and fifteen students who, every two years, graduate with a vocational qualification. The young people we recruit also receive on-the-job training within the company."

The world number 1 is from Burgundy

As we have seen, in the cooperage sector, the competition is not international, but rather local.
Finally, it's worth noting that the world's leading cooperage is based in Burgundy! It's the François Frères cooperage, more specifically part of the TFF Group, whose origins lie in... Saint-Romain , but who is
today present on five continents with more than 1,000 employees.

Elisabeth Ponavoy

Cooperage in Burgundy

28 companies, including 22 members of the coopers' union of Burgundy and associated regions.
185,000 barrels produced each year, for a turnover of 150 million euros.
Between 55 and 75% of production is destined for export. The United States is the number one export market.
680 direct jobs.

Elisabeth PONAVOY

Journalist