For over a year now, Bouchard Cooperages has proudly represented one of Hungary’s principal Cooperages: European Coopers.

Founded in 1997, European Coopers is not Hungary’s largest cooperage, but they are very proud of the fact that they source 100% of their oak from Hungarian forests to create their barrels and use no oak from bordering Eastern European countries. 

Vincent Bouchard, founder of Bouchard Cooperages, along with two other Italian families is a partner in European Coopers.  With 38 years of experience in the cooperage industry, Bouchard provides European Coopers with technical advice and consulting. 

Hungary has a long history of winemaking and coopering.  During the French Napoleonic wars, France’s wine industry sourced barrels from Hungary because French oak trees at the time were reserved for building naval ships. 

The quality of Hungarian oak barrels made significant strides after the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, when Hungary opened up to the common market.  This resulted in drastic qualitative improvements in both Hungarian winemaking and coopering. 

What makes Hungarian Oak truly unique is Hungary’s mix of maritime and continental climates, unique volcanic soils, cold long winters, an abundance of Quercus Petraea oak trees and Hungary’s Forestry Services maintenance and preservation of the forests for coopering purposes.  

European Coopers sources all of their Hungarian oak from two regions: the Tokay Mountains in North Eastern Hungary and the Mecsek Hills in South Western Hungary. 

Hungary’s North Eastern Tokay region is characterized by a colder climate, higher elevation, rocky volcanic unfertile soils and significantly higher percentage of Quercus Petraea, all of which create a slow growing, tighter grained oak.  When coopered, European Coopers’ Tokay oak barrels are elegant and less impactful, with perfumed aromatics that are very respectful of the fruit.

The climate in Hungary’s South Western Mecsek Hills is more maritime, hotter and experiences sporadic weather patterns. The elevation is lower, the soil is more fertile and there is more Quercus Robur, all of which create a faster growing and more open grained oak.  When coopered, European Coopers’ Mecsek oak barrels are slightly more structural and tend towards more nut and oat aromas. 

Regardless of the forest, however, European Coopers Master Cooper Kristóf Flódung prefers to source oak from the canyons and steeper sloped areas of both forests because he believes that in these areas there is greater competition between the trees.  This competition makes the trees suffer and fight more to grow, resulting in a tighter grained oak that when coopered creates a more fruit respectful barrel. 

European Coopers produces five different forest specific barrels that vary due to their percentages of Tokay or Mecsek. The barrels do best where the winemaker seeks less impactful oak characteristics to craft wines that are true to the varietal and honor the terrior.  Priced below 700 Euros, European Coopers barrels offer amazing value and are becoming more and more popular in North America and throughout the world. 

For more information on European Coopers, Bouchard Cooperages and barrel information, visit: Bouchard Cooperages and European Coopers.