Commercial Barrels

SA Cooperage manufactures a complete range of casks in American or French Oaks by traditional methods. Casks are fired to our clients exacting specifications.

Quality oak is sourced & seasoned in its country of origin before shipping.

We offer winemakers the opportunity to purchase their own oak & season it to their preference before manufacture. This gives the winemaker greater control, flexibility & delivers considerable cost savings.

In the past small wine companies have taken advantage of pre purchasing their timber for as few as 10 casks, you don’t have to be a “big player” to exploit the advantages.

Barrel Reconditioning

Used barrels are knocked apart & re-machined to expose fresh oak to the wine, extending the useful life considerably. Barrels are accurately machined through a purpose built machine that maintains structural integrity leaving the surface smooth & eliminating bacterial traps.

Barrels can be reconditioned on-site (within limits) saving the expense of transport & eliminating the risk of volatility-winemakers can empty casks have them reconditioned & refill in a matter of hours.

Reconditioned casks can be re-fired if requested however re-firing cannot reproduce original toast levels due to excessive shrinkage. It is better used for sterility purposes.

Used Barrels

We can usually supply good range of quality used casks. Typically 2-4 year old casks French & American Oak, however supply is dependant on availability of quality barrels.

Barrel Repair

Replacing broken or porous staves/heads, fixing leaks, riveting hoops.

Barrel Remanufacture

Remaking existing casks to smaller capacities eg Hogsheads (300 litre) can be cut down to Barriques (225 litre) for timber supplied by the client or from our own timber stocks.

The advantage being that the timber can be re-seasoned & the resultant cask fired to higher toast levels than a reconditioned barrel.