Bottom line – without oak we can’t make barrels. It is truly our most valuable resource. As a fourth generation (and counting) family-owned company, investing in the sustainability of French and American oak is woven into the fabric of our brand. It’s something we take very seriously, and we push ourselves to be at the forefront of our industry on sustainability education and action. In today’s blog post, we introduce you to one of our newest team members, Dominic Stelzer, who was recently hired as Sustainability Manager for our oak resources. Tag along for a little Q&A as we see what Dominic is up to in his new role! Q: Dominic, welcome to the team! Tell us a little about your background. A: Ever since I was young, I’ve had a passion for the natural world that fueled my education and later, my career. My father, who is also a forester, imparted onto me the importance of conservation and the fellowship with each other that it takes to progres

Oak Wise conducted a study on the effect of mitigation and amelioration techniques on smoke tainted wine grapes and finished wine. Our objective is to present methods to help mask or balance smoke characteristics in wine by introducing oak ellagitannins or cherry wood tannins at three stages of wine development: addition before primary fermentation addition before malolactic fermentation and addition in finished wine/pre-bottling Results of the study showed that treated wines contained a significantly lower level of perceived smoke attributes with an enhanced overall quality in finished wine.  Click here for the complete technical paper: Oak Wise Technical Paper - Mitigating Smoke Taint.pdf

We last left off in the American oak forest with our resident tree guy and Director of Log Procurement, Garret Nowell. If you missed that video, catch-up here.  In this next video, Garret walks us through how American oak logs are graded and purchased by our team of Log Buyers. Watch as he illustrates the process at one of our company-owned stave mills. Enjoy!  

If you want to know anything and everything about the American oak forest - Garret Nowell is your guy. He's in charge of log procurement for World Cooperage and also a Certified Forester. If you've ever been on a tour of our stave mill and cooperage in Missouri, there's a good chance he was there to give you a personal tour of the forest and log yard. Suffice it to say he knows more than the average Joe about forest management and what makes a great oak log for wine barrel cooperage. Take a virtual tour of the American oak forest with Garret and gain a little bit of his knowledge on the forest, why oak grows well in this region and what sustainable practices help the forest thrive.

Mother Nature may be unpredictable, but you can rely on Radoux USA.  Our Sonoma County cooperage has been providing high quality barrels and oak adjuncts to our customers near and far for over 25 years! Radoux USA has inventory of French, American (Appalachian, Minnesota & Missouri oak) and Eastern European (Hungarian) oak barrels in stock at our Santa Rosa, CA warehouse. With our cooperage production facility in Santa Rosa, CA we also have the capacity to produce barrels made-to-order and have stock on hand of staves of various oak origin and/or grain size. Barrel Options: FRENCH Medium Grain Mixed Grain      (Medium & Tight Grain) Tight Grain (24 & 36 month) Extra Tight Grain AMERICAN Appalachia Minnesota Missouri (24 & 36 month) EASTERN EUROPEAN (Hungarian) Various TOAST Levels & Styles Various CAPACITIES (225L, 228L, 300L, 500L, Smaller & Larger op