This characteristic requires eIiptical shaped grooves or crozes that only a craftsman with significant experience, tradition and skill of this profession is able to create. No colored lacquer is applied to the heads of the casks produced by the company in order to not impair the final inspection of this specific operation.
Whether the wood used comes from France - (Allier and Never) or on request, Slavonia or East European countries the staves are created from quarter sawn and back sawn trunks. Crowns are not used since they come from the exterior of the trunk where the wood is young, rich in tannin and lacks aromatic compounds. In addition, the staves made from these parts tend to twist with the obvious dangerous consequences.
With our unique technique it is possible to make both untoasted casks and light or medium toasted ones.
In cooperation with the University of Turin we made a research, and with the results coming from gas chromatographic and sensory analysis, together with the tannin extraction we can point out the following characteristics for each toasting level, showing very different profiles:
Untoasted oak
Higher presence of tannins, that have been not reduced by toasting. The bigger volume of the cask helps giving an elegant character and softening the impact of the untoasted oak, while highly lifting the fruit character of the wine, without any impact of toasty nuances.
Light toast (190 °C for 40 minutes)
The smell of almonds and clove are evident. Hints of licorice and toasted bread can be noted as well. The toasty nuances leave a lot of room to the fruity characteristics of the wine. Tannins are more present here compared to other toasting levels.
Medium toast (205 °C for 45 minutes)
We can note how vanilla, and coconut / oak (from the whiskey lactone) prevail. The impact of cotton candy, chocolate and butterscotch are also important highlighting the sweet character of this toast level. The contribution of the 4-methyl guaiacol is also important giving a bit of a spicy character. The tannins are more degraded, giving less astringency, with a good balance between the fruitiness of the wine and the toasty nuances described above.
