Tonnellerie Taransaud is based in Cognac, France. Taransaud makes barrels, puncheons, tanks, ovals, etc. for the world of wine.

A little history: We know that there was a Taransaud making barrels in the Cognac region in 1652.  It's a long history, so I'll just discuss the highlights:

1932-Tonnellerie Taransaud  is founded.

1980-Mel Knox starts selling Taransaud barrels.

1997-- Henri de Pracomtal buys the cooperage. He builds a new cooperage and doubles its size while strengthening quality and developing traceability procedures in all areas.

You can read more about Taransaud on their website.

Barrels and tanks made by Tonnellerie Taransaud can be summed up in a few words: consistency, reliability, traceability, and luxury.

Consistency

Taransaud has a few simple rules for making barrels:

1. When the wood is milled, it is divided into two categories: tight-grained Center of France and medium-grained "Forets Diverses'

2. Tight-grained wood is air dried 12 months for every 10 mm of stave thickness. Wider-grained wood is dried a bit longer.   

3. Toasting is done by a team of workers who use thermocouples and computers to insure uniformity.

Reliability

Outside auditing done by Bureau Veritas confirms origin and seasoning of wood.  Wood, barrels and shipping containers are tested so you don't have to worry about TCA, TBA, etc. First the wood is tested before it goes into the aging yard. Then it is tested before and after manufacture. Finally, the containers are tested before they are loaded, so all their work (and yours!) doesn't get ruined by a faulty container.

Traceability

Taransaud has traceability on everything. On every barrel they inscribe a control number in two places. We can use this number to trace toasting, wood sourcing, etc.

Luxury

None of this work comes cheap. Yet I never have enough of these barrels.

TARANSAUD  2010

With the dollar fluctuating so much it is important to think about the exchange rate. Taransaud can help you fix a dollar price. Let us know if we can lend a hand. As I have said before, we can let you buy in Euros, even fix a dollar price in advance. The one thing we cannot do is give you a special rate sixty days after the barrels have docked. We need to plan ahead. Remember that right now the dollar is hovering around 1.35 Euros. Last summer we hit over 1.52, so you should see substantial savings.

Always remember that Taransaud is the only French cooperage to have outside certification of origin and air-drying. TCA and TBA are carefully controlled and toasting is done according to time and temperature protocols.

2010 TARANSAUD PRICES

Bordeaux:
225 L Reference 112………………….………………….......795€
Thin stave barrels with tight grain.
Early delivery price:………….….…………………….……...765€
These thin-stave  barrels have to be ordered by the end of March for shipment at the end of April. This means late May/early June delivery. We do not have a special price for any other barrel.

225 L Reference 102………………...…………………….….810€
Export barrels with tight grain.
225 L Export Reference 103    ……………..…….……….765€
These medium-grain barrels are allocated.

225 L Chateau Ferre, Reference 122……….……………..825€
225 L Chateau, Full-tilt boogie, Reference 122..….…......840€
The wood hoops wrapped with osier help your wine feel better about itself. We use the same codes for chateau and chateau ferre as the wood is the same. The difference is the hoops.

Burgundy:
Export Reference 132…………………………………. 768€
Export, Reference 133…………………………...………….748€
132 is tight-grained; 133, medium.
Wood hoops available for 15 Euro up charge.
Other sizes and barrels:
114 L…………….………..….…………………………..… 370€
500 L….……………………….………………………… 1500€
These are mostly 115 cm stave length. 
Other large sizes……………………………………………….ask

Prices are FOB warehouse American Canyon. Storage of barrels for more than one month billed at $5 per barrel per month. For large orders we can deliver to the winery and save you delivery costs if you take the barrels off the container so we don’t have to unload it.

TARANSAUD TANKS:  We are seeing another hot year for tank sales. So, if you are interested, let us know very soon.