A company can only create its identity over a period of time, together with those who work there, and with the help of their know-how. It was in this spirit that I founded CHÊNE & Cie. The company’s first task was to put together all the links in the chain required to achieve our ambition: to be the benchmark in cooperage for the best wines in the world.

Henri de Pracomtal
Président

CHÊNE & CIE

The R & D's service of Chêne & Cie The activity of Chêne’s R & D Department covers the forest, the barrel making process in the cooperage and the customers’ needs in the wineries. Chêne & Cie regroups the cooperages Taransaud, Kádár Hungary and Canton. Mission Identify and control the impact of cooperage processes on barrel ageing Oak supply, natural seasoning, heating… represent Taransaud’s specificities based on the long know-how of coopers. Our scientific approach of such cooperage processes results in a better understanding, analyze and improvement to serve our customer’s excellence. Our mission also includes a technical and oenological assistance to our customers. The barrel The barrel can be compared to a membrane enclosing the liquid and acting as a reactor: concentration by evaporation of water or alcohol while the oxygen crosses into the barrel, release of aromatic and tannic compounds… many interactions proper to the oak barrel. We identify the exchange capacity of such specific container to provide our customers with a better service. The oak tank This container is used for winemaking to capitalize on specific qualities during the exchange: fruit, roundness, length. We carry our research on technical capacities and specific compounds of oak tanks to optimize the use of such a container. From the forest to the wine An Engineer “forest-wood” studies the forests, wood characteristics, mechanical modification of wood in the cooperage sector, and works closely with production and quality departments. A Master Enologist follows the organoleptic and chemical analyses and experimentations carried out in wineries. An Executive Assistant coordinates the communication. The Department is managed by an Enologist. Means Analysis of wood properties (mechanical, physical, anatomical) Measure of soluble and aromatic compounds of oak wood and wine (Gas Chromatography) Sensorial evaluation by experts' trial Weather statistics Result interpretation by statistical analysis Our partners Winemakers with whom Taransaud can develop experimentations. Universities and Technical Centres (CRITT Bois, CRITT Agroalimentaire, FCBA, Université d'Œnologie de Bordeaux, Toulouse University, Stellenbosch University in South Africa…) Private laboratories