Barrel Of Fun.

We just received our beautiful new barrels at the winery. Pictured in the front with black staves is our Winemaker, Jason Moulton’s, favorite wine barrel. It is called the Baron Culte 140 and it is one of the most superior French oak barrels in the world.  Its creation was to pay homage to the founding of the Baron cooperage in 1875.  The grain selection is super tight, which will bring out some very fine, chalky oak tannins when wine ages in this barrel.  The oak staves are weathered for 4 years, then brought into the cooperage to be toasted.  Most of our cooperage wood is aged for 3 years at Whitehall Lane.  This specialty toasting starts with 4 hours at low temperature, just giving the cooper enough time to bend the staves and form the barrel.  Since it takes 4 hours for this one barrel, they only make two per day.  The Culte 140 barrel then cools down overnight, only to be toasted yet a second time for another 4 hours at low temperature, giving it a deep, but mild toasting.  This process leads the barrel down a path of enhanced aromatics and viscosity that only the finest wine can touch.  Our future with this barrel lies only within the I of V and II of V programs here at Whitehall Lane. Find out more about the V program here.