Page 28 - Grapevine Jan-Feb 2020

In The Winery

Photos Courtesy of: Whispering Willow Photography

FROM WINE GRAPES TO WOOD GRAINS:

COOPERAGES & WINEMAKERS ARE PARTNERS IN GOOD TASTE
By: Cheryl Gray
T he artistry of cooperage and winemaking is as far away as France, parts of Eastern Europe and

even Japan. While white oak is dominant in the
a genuine friendship. And like old friends,
there is widespread agreement among
woods that include acacia, chestnut, cherry tree
coopers and winemakers that the success of most cooperage industry, there are some rare uses of
wines depends a great deal upon the barrel in and exclusive species. Combine the cooper’s expe-
which that wine is aged. rience with that of a winemaker and the result is
what wine consumers taste from the glass and feel
A master cooper can build a barrel with nothing on the palate.
but hand tools from the log to finished product.
Along with that experience is a wealth of knowl- With some 30 years of working with wood, few
edge of the finer points of barrel-making, such as know more about making barrels for wineries than
where to source wood as well as how (and why) master cooper Russ Karasch, who has taught the
different woods are used to create different wines. industry to his daughter, Heidi Korb. The result is
Minnesota’s Black Swan Cooperage, launched in
Those who have spent decades in cooperag- 2009.
es have fashioned barrels created from woods
sourced not only from the United States but also Karasch is responsible for the company’s unique

Page 26 The Grapevine • January - February 2020 877-892-5332

Grapevine Main Pages GV010220_Layout 1-1 .indd 26 12/20/19 3:17 PM