My brother’s visit to our barrel supplier in France by Indi Noon
Back in September, while I was picking grapes in the Alsatian mountains, my brother was working a vintage of his own. Harper had landed a cellar-hand job for the harvest season at Chateau Pontet-Canet in Pauillac, Bordeaux.
Before leaving Australia, Harper had accompanied dad to a wine conference in Adelaide which included a tasting hosted by Taransaud, a prestigious French cooperage located near the Bordeaux region. During the tasting Harper had the opportunity to meet the Taransaud sales manager, Andy. Andy learnt that Harper would be in France in the following months and he kindly organised a tour of the factory for him. I don’t think my fortunate brother realised quite how lucky he was!
Taransaud are a family-owned company who value quality, respect for craftsmanship, and prioritise delivering the finest products every time. They invest heavily in conducting their own research and development to ensure the most accurate results.
Dad has been working with Taransaud barrels since the 1980s. Previous wineries he worked for recognised Taransaud’s quality and when he and mum took over from grandma and grandpa, they started using Taransaud barrels to mature our wines here. Dad was able to visit the cooperage in France in 1992 himself and he still regards their barrels as the best today.
When Harper recently visited the factory, he was astonished by their facilities and hospitality. He and his friend Megan were escorted on a private tour through the cooperage where they were shown each step of the barrel making technique and the incredible attention to detail that’s required. Needless to say, his experience at Taransaud was above and beyond any of our expectations and he is very grateful. Though he wasn’t able to take pictures of the working process, his recollection of the experience sounded wildly impressive. The tour also included a lovely restaurant lunch with Nicholas Tiquet-Lavandier, the company managing director and starred some incredible French cheese, pastry and wine of course. From the gracious manner in which they hosted Harper, he felt like royalty.