Harvest in Burgundy: The Birth of a New Chapter for Great Wines

When the first grapes arrive in the cellar, winemakers refine their barrel requirements. They discuss volumes, wood types, and toasting levels. The conversations initiated in spring with the cooperage finally come to fruition. The quality of the harvest, the vintage’s balance, and the must’s structure guide the aging choices and thus the barrel selection. This moment of exchange between winemakers and coopers is a goldmine of information. Coopers taste the juice, analyze pH levels, and assess concentration. Together, they sketch the future wine’s trajectory.

For a barrel is not merely a container. It is a tool that enhances the terroir and the winemaker’s craftsmanship. In Burgundy, where the identity of the climats takes precedence, the cooper’s role is to support great wines without ever overshadowing them; to reveal, not impose. Thus, a cool and acidic vintage will require light toasting, while a warm, concentrated year will demand more structure and deeper toasting to balance its power.

Climate change is disrupting these balances, with faster maturation, higher alcohol levels, and lower acidity. Coopers must therefore constantly adapt, sometimes even reinvent themselves. As in 2018, when Remond Cooperage proposed to an iconic estate in Vosne-Romanée an unprecedented toasting level and only 20% new barrels to preserve the freshness of a powerful vintage; the result of a hot, dry year. The outcome was remarkable: after just three months of aging, the wine retained its minerality while gaining complexity.

The harvest thus reminds us that behind every great wine lies an invisible chain of expertise. Though the cooper’s work is often hidden, it is essential, as it shapes the wine’s texture, structure, and aging potential. Since 1954, Remond Cooperage has supported estates across generations, preserving a memory of vintages while innovating without betraying tradition.

When a new wine’s life begins, the barrel becomes its first companion. It is at this moment, in the encounter between wood and grape, that the vintage’s true story begins.

"When you taste a great Burgundy, remember: behind every note of vanilla or spice lies the work of a cooper."