EPV label for the Manufacture tonnelière La Grange à Murlin

After Tonnellerie Doreau in Gensac, Manufacture tonnelière La Grange in Murlin is the second Charlois group company to be awarded the EPV (Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant) label. It joins the ranks of some 1,400 companies with this label.

Manufacture tonnelière La Grange has been based in Murlin, in the Nièvre region, since 2016, in the heart of the Bertranges forest, surrounded by prestigious groves of two-hundred-year-old oaks. It’s here that, every day, the Manufacture’s coopers practice their craft with passion, elevating cooperage to the rank of art.

A label of excellence supporting outstanding know-how

The label EPV recognizes a specific economic heritage derived from manufacturing experience, the implementation of complex and rare know-how based on traditional skills, and an attachment to a French region. This label, awarded by the French government via the Ministry of the Economy and Finance, recognizes rare skills and reflects local artisanal excellence. To obtain this label, a procedure is followed by experts who examine files, visit production sites and meet with a committee of experts in the field… all steps guaranteeing excellence.

Training and transmission

For Manufacture tonnelière La Grange, it’s a recognition of an age-old know-how perpetuated by coopers who make barrels entirely by hand, using traditional tools. Coopers who are trained and perfected in the techniques and gestures of cooperage by Compagnons du Devoir and du Tour de France. First, by Mickaël Mariaud, in 2021-2022, and now by François Mermet, who have put down their tools long enough to pass on knowledge acquired as part of their status as travelling journeymen. Tailor-made, à la carte training, made possible by the fact that Manufacture tonnelière La Grange has only three coopers. Each cooper was able to hone his or her skills in the various stages of barrel-making, and to familiarize himself or herself with the traditional and specific tools of the cooper’s trade. Like sportsmen and women, coopers were given a tailor-made training program, organized around their skills, knowledge and experience.
Training and transmission are values that Charlois group holds dear to ensure the sustainability of its know-how.

Enhancement and promotion

This EPV label also rewards the promotion and enhancement of La Manufacture La Grange’s skills and know-how since its creation in 2016. In addition to the visits organized at Murlin, which represent some 4,200 people a year, Manufacture La Grange’s coopers take part in numerous events organized throughout the year. International Forest Day, European Heritage Days and Forest Nights are all opportunities for our coopers to promote their skills to the public and, where appropriate, to encourage vocations. They are also called on directly by winemakers to give cooperage demonstrations on their estates. Each demonstration is an opportunity for them to showcase their expertise by demonstrating and explaining every step in the barrel-making process, from the hollowing out of the staves, to the toasting, through to the guistrage.

Exceptional products

An EPV label also rewards the origin and quality of raw materials and finished products. La Manufacture La Grange coopers put their skills to work for prestigious estates, producing some of the finest wines in the world. This know-how is intimately linked to the forest and its majestic tree, the oak, rare and precious, from which comes the stavewood used to make barrels. The oaks used in our cooperage are harvested from sustainably managed French forests, notably the Bertranges forest. The oaks are processed at Maison Charlois, the historical stave mill of Charlois group, located in Murlin since 1928. Local proximity, raw materials and mastery of the processing and production stages are all factors contributing to the award of this label of excellence.

The EPV label enhances the value of both people and know-how, through training and transmission, which is a priority for all Charlois group companies. After Tonnellerie Doreau and Manufacture tonnelière La Grange, other companies will be applying for the Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant label.

Photography © Christophe Deschanel