How to read a wine barrel

It appears reading a wine barrel is a rather straightforward procedure. You're observing a label engraved into the wood, correct? A little more goes into it than that. Information about it is located at the top of the barrel. In the wine industry, cooperages are the companies that make barrels, and some cooperages place more information on their barrels than others.

1. Tn Coopers is the name of the cooperage.

2. France is the source of the barrel.

3. Origin means the point of origin.

4. Benguela Cove Wine Estate as the barrel was made specially for us.

5. Taransaud is the oak forest in France that the wood is from. There are six different forests this oak type comes from and each forest has specific characteristics.

6. The date on the barrel shows how old the barrel is, which changes the effect on the grape. The year the barrel was made 2020.

7. Mt refers to the toasting level, in this case medium toast. You also get blonde, light toast, or heavy toast.

8. Various grains from fine to wide grain oak have different effects on the wine.

Benguela Cove is very particular about the barrels we choose. White oak is what we use because it has long been the norm in the winemaking industry. It allows the wine to interact with it and through it while bringing out its distinctive traits. Although other wood has been tried, white oak is the material of choice for winemakers all around the world.