From this barrel

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Hooping and bending : a question of fire and water

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The cooper relies on his eyes and light touch to assemble a barrel.
He will bend the staves thanks to the combined actions of heat and water.

Air and time

The staves are dried in the open air and subjected to the wind, sun and rain for 3 years. This is the length of time necessary to drive out the sap and take the bitterness from the wood.

The stave splitter

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The pieces of wood used are never sawn. They are split in what is a highly-skilled trade, that of the stave splitter.

The choice of wood

The wood used to manufacture barrels is mainly oak from the Limousin and the Tronçais (Allier) because of the quality of their fibres. These oaks are at least 40 years old.

Useful

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