Products & Services

Barrels & Vats

Types of barrel

We make barrels of many different sizes ranging from the ‘ huitième ’ that holds just 28 litres, up to the 600 litre ‘demi-muid’.

Our most popular barrel is the 205 litre ‘pièce champenoise’ which is the size traditionally used in Champagne, however we also make a significant number of 228 and 300 litre barrels that are the sizes used in Burgundy.

To meet the varied requirements of our customers and their wines we offer a range of staves of different thickness and several variations of toasting in order to produce very precise organoleptic characteristics.

For our customers in Champagne we can also offer a special bespoke service using oak from specific villages. This is a wonderful way to lend a clear point of differentiation to your wines, to enhance their presentation and to position them as prestige products.

Please contact us for more information about the villages and forests for which we can offer this service.

Last but not least, we are happy to discuss using oak from our clients’ private estates and forests. 10 and 40 hectolitre vats are also available.

Vats and vinification vessels

La Tonnellerie also produces truncated vats and other vessels for larger scale vinification that give optimal balance between the wine and the wood as well as allowing the wine to be stored longer.

We produce vats from 10 to 40 hectolitres in size and each one is tailor made using oak from different sources, different types of toast and a variety of stainless steel fittings.

Our vats are perfect for even the most demanding requirements and are ideal for wine makers who want to create a system of perpetual reserve.

Innovation

In a traditional craft such as ours real innovation is rare. Nevertheless, at La Tonnellerie we have introduced two significant new ideas: Alternate toasting and amphora-shaped barrels.

Alternate toasting is achieved by taking staves from two different barrels, one with a light toast and the other with a medium toast, and using alternate staves to make a new barrel. This allows us to bring even greater complexity and subtle oak notes to the wine.

The amphora barrels come in various sizes from 100 to 300 litres and are arevolutionary combination of a standard barrel and a conical barrel with a stainless steel tip!

Apart from its unique and attractive shape, the amphora barrel offers a number of technical and practical advantages. Feel free to contact us for more information about these very special barrels.

Repairs

Repairing barrels requires particular skill involving dexterity and patience.

Wherever it was made and whatever the nature of the job - staves that are old and weak, a deformed base or other signs of wear and tear - we can put it right and prolong the useful life of your precious barrels.

We can carry out barrel maintenance at La Tonnellerie or on your premises.

In fact careful maintenance of old barrels is very important because, even if they no longer have any tannin to lend to the wine, old barrels allow micro- oxygenation of the wine which is a quality much sought after by several prestigious champagne houses.

Second-hand barrels

We also supply, totally renovated, second-hand barrels: cleaned and disinfected inside, carefully sanded on the outside and sometimes recycled to look as good as new. Second-hand barrels may come from Champagne, Burgundy or Bordeaux but they can still be used for making fine wines, or even whisky and other quality spirits.

For more information about our stock and availability. Click below to send us a message

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Accessories

We supply all the accessories you’ll need for your barrels in your winery:

- Silicone and dual-material bungs

- Tailor-made wooden bungs

- Wooden or stainless steel rods for batonnage

- Stainless steel inspection chambers (mireurs)

- Stainless steel racking rods

- Méchoirs

- Nozzles for filling barrels

- Stainless steel taps for tasting

- Barrel supports: single or double in solid oak or in stainless steel and oak

- Tailor- made barrel supports

Bespoke services

We offer a range of tailor-made services to suit all your requirements.

- Pre-production: tree selection in national or private forests or even on your own estate to create oak barrels from your own property!

- At La Tonnellerie: we can store and age your staves for 36 to 48 months in our dedicated storage area.

Other special projects such as the mini-barrels we have recently produced for Thés Nina's Marie-Antoinette.

Training and consulting services

La Tonnellerie offers training and consulting services to its clients to enhance their knowledge of the interaction between wine and wood.

We offer training in partnership with the ‘Centres de Formation pour Adultes’ or,
for groups, in partnership with the Formation interne.

These sessions can of course be combined with a visit to La Tonnellerie for
training and tasting.

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