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EXPERTISE AND INNOVATION

The following summary shows how our understanding has progressed over the past 30 years, from forests to barrels, to woody aroma profiles for wine:

The 1980s: Understanding Oak

Researchers analyzed the structure and various flavor and aromatic compounds in wood. This research highlighted:

the benefit of sessile oak for wine ageing and of pedunculate oak for ageing spirits,
the importance of selecting trees for their grain,
the immense added value of the toasting stage,
the lever provided by the proactive oak maturation process.

The 1990s: Wine-Wood Interactions

Better understanding of these interactions enabled three major advances:

discovering the key role of wine/wood synergy on aromatic and phenolic compound content of wines,
adapting methods for making and using barrels to their enological functions, for both fermentation and ageing.
the benefit of barrel ageing on lees and of stirring (batonnage) for the aromatic quality of white wines.

The 2000s: Wood’s 'Enological Potential’

Capitalizing on twenty years of research, our understanding of wine/wood interactions and improved knowledge of the chemical structure of oak, we successfully developed the ICÔNE process.

This process enables the oak's 'Enological Potential' to be determined, in other words, its ability to generate a precise woody profile in a specified wine category.

For further information: www.seguin-moreau-icone.com

From the forest to our workshops, click here for more information

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IT BEGINS WITH FORESTS

We select French, American, Russian or European oak trees at least 150-200 years old.

OAK MATURATION

The rough staves undergo a proactive maturation process lasting for 24 months on average at our seasoning yard in Cognac.

FROM ROUGH STAVES TO STAVES

Rough staves are transformed into staves in the hands of expert coopers.

RAISING THE BARREL

Master coopers make the barrel shells using traditional tools.

FIRE MAGIC

The fire then starts its magic: a triple time waltz!

BARRELS AND THEIR FINERY

Once the shell and heads have been raised, it is time for the finishing touches.

WORLDWIDE INFLUENCE

We are present in every wine-producing region of the world, supplying 4,500 customers every year on the 5 continents.

We purchase our oak trees at auction from the National Forests Office. On average, just 25% of each cubic metre of rough wood accepted by the cooperage is used to produce rough staves. Once the undressed timber has been cut up by foresters, it is transported to the stave mill.
In cooperation with foresters, who have sole authorization to fell and haul trees, our buyers travel the length and breadth of forests in search of the best oak trees, showing the utmost consideration for forests.
The undressed timber is turned into rough staves at the stave mill. The oak must be split to ensure the direction of the grain is respected and that the future barrels will be watertight.
The rough staves are stacked up to season slowly and gradually in the open air. The maturation process is monitored with regular checks.
Watering the rough staves compensates for any possible lack of rain. Trickling water helps develop the oak's chemical and organoleptic properties, to achieve optimal aromatic and phenolic potential.
Coopers make staves using shortening, planing, hollowing-out and jointing techniques. The coopers ensure that each stave has the perfect shape and size to fill out and fit perfectly with the other staves during firing.
Under the craftsmen's expert hands, each stave is slotted into position around a temporary iron hoop. The staves are positioned using a driver and hammer to construct the barrel shell.
For each order, the coopers raise the partially constructed form that will become the corresponding barrel and then roll it to the firing workshop.
Firing bends the staves and gives the barrel its distinctive shape. The combined action of fire, water and capstan helps to slowly bend the staves until the barrel shell is formed.
Barrel toasting is at the heart of our expertise: coopers know how to adapt the intensity and duration of firing to each customer's requirements, to bring out the desired aromas.
Chestnut hoops bound with reed were originally used to ward off pests that damage precious wood, and to prevent the barrel's chimb from being damaged during rolling. Today, our barrels are only fitted with this traditional decoration at the request of our customers.
Our master coopers fit crossbars, which are traditionally made of pine, to some of our Bordeaux-style barrels. They are held in place by a system of dowels. Every chateau or estate can ask for its emblem to be engraved on the barrels.
All our barrels, whether Burgundian- or Bordeaux-style (228 L to 600 L), can be customized using laser marking so that each one is unique.
Once our barrels are ready and have been carefully packaged, they leave our three production sites (Merpins and Chagny in France, and Napa in the USA) and make their way to our partners and their wines, which are the best in the world!
Firing is done on an open wood fire: the braziers are fueled with oak scraps, which reach very high temperatures during combustion and contribute to the typicity of each firing.