Since 1875, the founding date of the cooperage by Henry Baron, 5 generations have followed to lead the family-owned business to excellence. Founded in Les Gonds, near the town of Saintes in the Charente Maritime department, the production of the cooperage employs 60 people today, all passionate by their craft and keen to pass down their knowledge.
A French cooperage, whose craft crosses borders
Located in the heart of the celebrated vineyards of Cognac, the artisanal workshop works in service to the most prestigious Bordeaux Châteaux and Cognac houses. This noble heritage allows us to develop our innovations while retaining all our hand-crafted skills and traditions. With this knowledge, our cooperage is able to meet demanding requests, by selecting the most beautiful oaks from French forests and by balancing the perfect doses of fire and water in order to provide a toast profile which matches our customers’ requirements.
Thanks to the international renown of Tonnellerie Baron’s barrels, our cooperage works with the most prestigious global vineyard properties. Two third of the cooperage’s production are thereby exported to highly reputable wineries over the World:
Innovation as the key to our craft
With our experience and a special relationship with our customers, we developed innovative products within our research department :
OXOline®, to improve the barrel storage capacity
20 years after the creation of OXOline®, its relevance and efficiency have been well demonstrated. From this simple fact, we created barrel racks that facilitate the management of your barrels, increase your storage capacity and improve the quality of your wines and spirits.
Vinification Intégrale®, a concept of red wine fermentation in the barrel
Filling, cold soak, alcoholic fermentation, controlling temperatures, draining,… these red wine vinification steps in oak barrels are very important and delicate. Vinification Intégrale® combines all our knowledge and enables a delicate extraction for an unequaled aromatic complexity.
Integral Expandable Bung®, a secure barrel closure system
The Integral Expandable Bung®, has become the most secure solution in barrel closure. The bung is the result of two years of research and development. Many tests have been completed to bring maximum satisfaction to our customers.
The environment, our heritage
In order to preserve and enhance biodiversity and concerned about future generations, our environmental policy guarantees the longevity and quality of our products, and also the work of the men and women who produce them. For this reason, we are choosing from 2018 onward to take a number of concrete actions both environmental and human :
1- Green energy
1250 m² of photovoltaic panels supply the electric vehicles used by the employees for commuting and aim for the energy autonomy of the production site.
2- Plantation of oak trees
With Plantons pour l’Avenir (Plantation for the future), the first endowment fund created in 2014 to help in the plantation of trees in France, we participate in the reforestation of French forests, with about 15,000 trees planted each year, the equivalent of our barrel production.
3- A biotope area on our production site
To preserve our working environment, we created a biotope area, in partnership with the “Protection League of Birds” Company: planting of indigenous species, installation of nesting boxes and feeders, a bat roost, an insect house… With the help of neighboring schools, we gradually committed to preserving and enhancing the biodiversity of the environment.
For 145 year, Tonnellerie Baron, has maintained the historic craft of coopering in its purest traditional methods. A historic craft, artistic and emotional, which sublimates each barrel as a collective work that exemplify the standards of Tonnellerie Baron. More than ever, the company is in line with its time and environment.
Photo credit : Anaka