Wine has been aged in oak barrels for many, many centuries. Why? Because it makes a far superior finished product!

The white-coated boys in the back room have been able to specifically identify, in finished wines, over 200 components directly attributable to oak wood. Of course the vast majority of these are only detectable with sophisticated lab equipment, but there are over a dozen that can be readily sensed through taste and aroma by wine drinkers everywhere. Vanillins, toasty caramel, spice notes and sweet coconut to name a few.

The other magical aspect of wines from a barrel comes from the very slow introduction of oxygen through the pores of the wooden staves. Oxygen is what ages wine. If you have ever left a bottle of wine open overnight, you will certainly notice a deterioration in the taste the next day. That is simply because your wine has “over aged” through the introduction of way too much oxygen.

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Okanagan Barrel Works, Oliver B.C.

At Okanagan Barrel Works we take immense pride in having resurrected the cooperage industry in Canada. Sweeney Cooperage, the last operating barrel maker in the country, closed its doors in the early 1980’s. With the resurgence of British Columbia’s wine industry, the need for a domestic supplier of quality oak barrels became apparent and, here we are today. Besides offering winemakers our own line of new oak barrels, our company is also a full service repair and reconditioning facility for those times when tired, older barrels need a touch up or when something has happened to cause damage to a barrel. Okanagan Barrel Works is also sales agents for Tonnellerie de Mercurey of Burgundy and Canadian Oak Cooperage of Ontario.

Our American oak barrels are made of stave wood from the Pennsylvania and Missouri regions of the United States.
All oak is naturally airdried for a minimum of 24 months, before being shaped into staves and raised into barrels.

Our French stave sets are imported from one of the premier stave mills in France. Again, the seasoning is 24 months, with some 36 month wood also available. Our wood is selected not based on specific forest origin, but rather on grain tightness and uniformity. This gives our finished barrels a wonderful complexity.

Okanagan Barrel Works cooperates closely with Ton. de Mercurey in regards to information exchange on all aspects of coopering and especially on toasting techniques.

Barrels are available in 23L, 46L, 110L, 225L and 228L sizes.

Tonnellerie de Mercurey (Burgundy, France)

These barrels are an excellent value in highest quality French coopered oak barrels. Carefully selected wood from Ton. De Mercurey’s own stave mills ensures consistent quality and character. Very particular attention is paid to the toasting process as the oak elements should enhance, not overshadow, the natural characteristics of the wine. A long, slow toasting method has allowed Ton. de Mercurey to develop distinct toast levels to more suitably match the wines to be aged in these fine barrels.

Canadian Oak Cooperage (Ontario, Canada)

Many people have asked why primarily French or American oak is used in wine barrels and not Canadian oak. Well, now there is Canadian grown and seasoned oak available and we are very pleased to be able to offer these premium barrels to winemakers.

The oak species is Quercus Alba, the same as “American” oak but with some subtle and not so subtle differences. Wineries who have used these barrels are finding a sweetness that they were not noticing in wood from more southern climes. The Ontario climate is generally colder, helping to produce a very tight-grained stave. Excellent results are reported from an ever-growing number of very satisfied winemakers.