Most wine consumers realize that two winemakers can harvest grapes from the same vineyard on the same day and the resulting wines they bottle will be quite different. We think the same thing is true for Burgundian coopers. When we purchase barrels we specify the forest—Allier or Tronçais oak which is tight-grained for finer tannins and subtle aromatics of vanilla and Asian spices. We ask for a medium toast which highlights round, sweet tannins without strong smokey characteristics. We also spell out how long the oak is to be aged before fashioning barrel staves (two years for Pinot Noir and three for Chardonnay). We've aged wine in barrels from probably a couple of dozen coopers and the resulting wines were remarkably different. We did a trial around 1998 and tried both 24- and 36-month aged staves. The Chardonnay in 36-month barrels was rounder, less drying and produced a pleasing balance between fruit and oak.

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