The Barrel Hooping Process

While metal is now the preferred material for barrel hoops, this has not always been the case. InOutres et tonneaux, Élise Marlière notes that the barrel likely originated during the Iron Age(8^th century BCE/1^stcentury CE.) alongside advancements in metal tools. Although metal hooping was mastered during this time, it remained uncommon and only became widespread in the late 19^th century, gaining prominence in the 20^th century gwith improvements in metallurgy and the broader availability of metals.

Iron hoops were historically reserved for an elite minority of barrels, as evidenced by Article 68 ofCapitulaire de Villis (late 8^th – early 9^th century) n which Charlemagne instructed the governors of his estates to keep« good iron-hooped barrels ready to send to the army or the palace, avoiding the use of leather skins. ».

Metal hoops only became widely used from the second half of the 19^th century. Earlier sources,such as Art du tonnelier (1763), by Fougeroux de Bondaroy, define barrels as vessels made of staves held together by wooden hoops¹.Fougeroux does mention iron hoops but only for specific purposes, such as reinforcing barrels during transport or racking.².

Similarly, the engravings in Diderot and d’Alembert’s Encyclopédie and those by Duplessis-Bertaux depict barrels with wooden hoops. The only mention of metal hoops in the Encyclopédie (Plate 5)Encyclopédie) refers to « “iron hoops used as measurement gauges for barrels.” » equivalent to templates.

In his Traité théorique et pratique sur la culture de la vigne (1801), Chaptal exclusively refers to wood as the material for hoop-making: « The hoops used to hold the staves deserve the utmost attention from winemakers. The best are made from chestnut wood; next come hoops made of ash, goat willow, aspen, hazel, poplar, and finally willow. »

The use of metal is truly mentioned in works on wine and cooperage only starting from the second half of the 19th century. In his Études sur le vin (1866), Pasteur mentions them twice in this context: once regarding painted casks from the Clos-Vougeot estate and once regarding an experiment with iron-hooped barrels³. Maigne (Nouveau manuel complet du tonnelier et du jaugeage, 1875) specifies:« There are hoops made of both wood and iron, but wooden hoops are the most commonly used. All pliable woods are suitable for their manufacture. Generally, chestnut is chosen for ordinary casks, while oak, elm, and hornbeam are used for larger barrels. Ash and maple also provide excellent quality hoops, while those made of birch, willow, poplar, and alder are of poor service. Hazelwood and mulberry are sometimes used, especially the latter, due to its great flexibility, for making hoops for small barrels.»

In a 1926 archival film dedicated to the cooper’s trade, it is clearly evident that the hoops used are made of metal.

Finally, Raymond Brunet, in his Manuel de tonnellerie dating from 1948, specifies that metal has replaced wood in certain regions such as Bordeaux and the Midi.⁴. This implies that even in the mid-20^th century, the use of metal for barrel hooping had not yet been fully adopted throughout the French territory.

As previously mentioned, the widespread use of metal hoops is closely tied to the rise of the steel and metallurgy industries, which improved the quality of metals and significantly reduced production and manufacturing costs. The adoption of metal for barrel hooping is also linked to the professionalization of the trade and the upgrading of production standards in response to competition from other materials for aging and transporting alcohol.

FOCUS on the poissage of barrels

To address the fragility of wooden hoops and their expansion during barrel handling, coopers historically used various methods to ensure the watertightness of their barrels, including the technique of poissage which consists of coating the inside of barrels with pitch (a sticky substance made from resins and plant-based tar). Fougeroux de Bondaroy further notes that coopers could also« use frayed cloth coated with grease, tar, or tallow, or a type of mastic made from ground elm leaves and sheep fat, to stop the leakage of liquids when the gaps between the staves were too large. » It is safe to say that at the time, little attention was given to the food safety of these materials, unlike the many precautions taken today in the field of cooperage.

Visuals © D.R.

GEngraving de Duplessis-Bertaux

Visual extracted from an INA archival film on barrel making, 1926

Photographs extracted fromManuel de tonnellerie of Raymond Brunet’s

¹ Fougeroux de Bondaroy : « The vessel formed by several planks or staves joined side by side, in the shape of an oval with its two ends cut, brought together, and held only by wooden hoops to prevent them from separating, is called a cask, barrel, tun, vat, piece, puncheon, barrique, etc »

² Fougeroux de Bondaroy : « If there is still concern that, when moving a cask containing wine or extracting the wine it holds, the outer hoops of the cask might fail, risking the loss of the liquid, the cooper is informed and held accountable for any such loss. In such cases, the cooper equips the cask with additional iron hoops. These hoops are made of several flattened, circular iron bands, joined together using a hook on one band that fits into the openings made on the second band. This design allows the hoop to be tightened or loosened, making it larger or smaller depending on the size of the cask it is intended to fit. The iron hoop is then tightened around the cask using a screw that is turned with a wrench. The cooper fits the cask with two such iron hoops, ensuring it is ready to be moved or to have its wine extracted without risk. […] In the provinces, where coopers often do not have iron hoops, they use a rope to wrap around the puncheon and tighten it with a garreau [sic]. »

³ Pasteur : « I saw painted casks at Clos-Vougeot, reportedly to better preserve the wood and the iron hoops. » ; « The equipment required for heating barrels would have incurred significant costs; therefore, I have conducted only a small number of experiments to confirm that iron-hooped barrels could be heated in a water bath without being damaged. »

⁴ Brunet : « In certain regions, particularly in Bordeaux and the Midi, some wooden hoops are replaced with iron or steel hoops, except for barrels intended for sea transport, which retain wooden hoops to facilitate stowage. In other cases, only the wooden hoops necessary for the cask’s appearance and rolling are retained, while the use of iron hoops is becoming increasingly common. In Bordeaux, only two wooden hoops are placed on each bilge and two on each head, making a total of eight wooden hoops. The remaining hoops are made of iron, providing greater strength, and are referred to as feuillards. »