French
Barrel Makers Association: The Power of Know How
By FBWorld Team
Here
we are one year away from 2020. The year both George Orwell
and Isacc Asimov spent so much time fantasizing about. An era
where the global population grows in leaps and bounds, and the
average person is exposed to as much information in a day, as
their grandparents where in lifetime.
As
a Science Fiction fan and a child of the nineties I'm surprised
they both completely missed the boat when it came to wine. I
guess being so preoccupied with the implications of the Internets
potential and how global the economy would get. People's preference
as to how they spent their leisure time didn't seem like such
a big deal. So let me take a moment to fill in that gap.
From
the 1980's until now technology starting growing in capability
and use. From there people all over the world left the fields
and went to factories assembling everything from electronics
to cloths. While this was going on something happened. The Global
population began to get more educated and wealthy and then People
from China, and other parts of Asia began passing the Mao-tai,
Sojo, and Sake Aisles looking for wine. The America's began
to see a surge of visitors to Napa Valley. As a response to
this wineries began springing up everywhere, and whom is everybody
looking to as this transition is taking place?
The
French.
There
are many guesses as to why this is happening, but who really
knows? One thing is for sure, since so many people have access
to the Internet, and the plethora of information that comes
with that Brand reputation can be very fragile. Especially when
stories of drama can go viral so quickly.
Now
lets take a step back for a second. Why in this era of instant
information and growing demand are the French being held up
as the industry standard? To examine that further a good organization
to talk to would be the French Barrel Makers Association.
French Barrel Makers association members
On
Friday February 1st The French Barrel Makers association held
a conference in Napa. They are an organization that includes
fifty companies grouped into three unions active in the harvesting
of French Oak Trees, creation of New Oak Barrels, and who buys
them world wide.
Now
forgive me for making an assumption here. I'm sure if your reading
this you've scene a few tasting rooms so I don't need to go
into too much detail about the demand for a craft like this
at a time when the public at large can't seem to get enough
wine, and the experience that comes with wine tasting.
Since
1/3 of their entire production makes its way to Napa. We are
among the lucky few who get annual visits. Its fun! Get to meet
all kinds of people from various parts of Europe offering Barrels,
grown and harvesting in France. Even though there were a few
language barriers.
The
people working in the trade from California to France to Germany
had such a relationship with their craft that it has given birth
to a new language. One centered on wine making, how fermentation
will take place, and the effects various options of oak treatment
will have on the finished product.
As
you watch these guys and interpret their interactions it gets
clear how important of a relationship is being formed. Wine
ages anywhere from 6 months to two years in a Barrel. This Barrel
affects the chemistry and is very active with the grape skins
as fermentation is taking place.
Wineries
today have to walk a tight balance. They need to make sure they
produce what's expected of them every year, while keeping every
customer happy enough to say good things about them on social
media.
The
average Oak French Barrel lasts ten years. Its best years are
the first three; then after that it becomes neutral oak. After
ten years sometimes sooner the barrel becomes moldy and can
no longer be used.
Which
wouldn't seem like such a big deal if you didn't consider how
many barrels wineries have, more wine is being made on average
year by year, and barrels are made from freshly chopped oak
trees from areas around France. In all fairness the French barrel
makers association do have a method for the trees to be regrown.
A simple but effective method of leaving token tree every now
and then as they uproot the others around, when the surviving
tree starts dropping acorns the natural cycle of rebirth cycle
begins.
The
process from chopping down the tree to the churning out the
Barrel is done in a ritualized manner, uniform standards. We
are talking a religious devotion to this process in order to
make sure quality standards are forever beyond reproach.
While
this was an event primarily geared at building relationships
between barrel makers & wineries? The press was encouraged
to come and examine the process. Questions were brought up about
there being enough resources to accommodate the growing demand
for their product worldwide, to the practices Barrel Makers
engage in that effect the taste and texture of the wine.
Grapes placed in a ton bin ready to be pressed.
It
was clear that when we were asking questions about their craft.
Their routine was clear. There might have been some insecurity
about being able to meet the rising demand especially the one
rising in Asia. But they were clear Al Gore shouldn't be alarmed
just yet. The forests at the moment are re growing at pace at
least for now. Makes me wonder if California carried these practices
would we have gotten so many fires?
It's hard to interpret everything accurately when you're on
the outside looking in, but what really shined through, was
the collective approach of treating Barrel Making as a Science.
Carefully planning out how the wood is to be treated so it can
produce the desired traits the winemaker is aiming for. As I
sit there and watch this level of cooperation I can see that
Napa is influenced by France, and the reputation that is generated
by these practices continues to be lived up to year after year.
Makes
me curious about looking deeper into the French standard of
winemaking, and what other wine regions are influenced by France?
What is changing in societies around the world that is steering
more and more people toward wine and what is it the French are
doing that has them so ahead of everybody else?
Topics
to be covered at a later date, but stay tuned updates will be
broadcast over the Internet.
By Arthur Walsh