A&K Cooperage

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A&K Cooperage (also known as Artisan Barrels) is a Missouri-based oak barrel-making company, established in 1972. It is based in Higbee, Missouri. [1] [2] They provide wine barrels to several notable companies, including Silver Oak Cellars, who purchased half of the company in 2000. They make white American oak barrels, air-dried between 18 and 36 months.

Missouri U.S. state in the United States

Missouri is a state in the Midwestern United States. With over six million residents, it is the 18th-most populous state of the Union. The largest urban areas are St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield and Columbia; the capital is Jefferson City. The state is the 21st-most extensive in area. Missouri is bordered by eight states : Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas to the south and Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska to the west. In the South are the Ozarks, a forested highland, providing timber, minerals and recreation. The Missouri River, after which the state is named, flows through the center of the state into the Mississippi River, which makes up Missouri's eastern border.

Barrel Hollow cylindrical container

A barrel or cask is a hollow cylindrical container with a bulging center, longer than it is wide. They are traditionally made of wooden staves and bound by wood or metal hoops.

Higbee, Missouri City in Missouri, United States

Higbee is a city in southern Randolph County, Missouri, United States. The population was 568 at the 2010 census. Barrel-making company A&K Cooperage, Barrel 53 Cooperage and Woodsmen Distilling are based in Higbee.

Contents

History

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A&K Cooperage was established in Higbee, Missouri in 1972 as a keg business by D.L. Andrews and his son-in-law Dale Kirby. [3] They initially produced 5- to 20- gallon kegs but began concentrating on manufacturing 59-gallon American white oak barrels. [3] In 1988 they were involved in a court case and hired a New York attorney before they could collect $23,000 for a shipment of 200 barrels from a client who failed to make payment. [4]

Andrews died in 1996, leaving Dale Kirby and son, Matthew, to run the business. As a major supplier to Silver Oak Cellars, a top winery in northern California producing Cabernet Sauvignon, in 2000, A&K Cooperage formed an agreement with Silver Oak who bought out half the company. [3] [5] They also purchased several hundred acres of timberland to maintain production. [3] Today the company produces about 3000 out of some 5000 barrels annually exclusively for Silver Oak. [3] In the 2000s, the company has aimed to expand its clientele to smaller and mid-sized wine producers, and since 2007 has used lasers to etch winery logos on the heads of the barrels they make. [3] The barrels have been used by several successful wineries who have won national and prestigious industry awards for their wines and have attributed A&K Cooperage in aiding the quality of their wines, including Silver Oak Cellars. [6] [7]

Silver Oak Cellars

Silver Oak Cellars is a family-owned, California winery dedicated to producing only Cabernet Sauvignon. Silver Oak was established in 1972 by Ray Duncan and Justin Meyer. It is currently operated by Ray's sons David Duncan, who serves as the President and CEO, and his brother, Tim Duncan, who serves as Executive Vice President. Silver Oak has two wineries; one in Oakville in the Napa Valley and one in Healdsburg in the Alexander Valley. The Duncan Family also established Twomey Cellars in 1999, which has wineries in Calistoga and Healdsburg.

Cabernet Sauvignon Red-wine variety of grape

Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley. Cabernet Sauvignon became internationally recognized through its prominence in Bordeaux wines where it is often blended with Merlot and Cabernet Franc. From France, the grape spread across Europe and to the New World where it found new homes in places like California's Santa Cruz Mountains, Paso Robles, Napa Valley, New Zealand's Hawkes Bay, South Africa's Stellenbosch region, Australia's Margaret River and Coonawarra regions, and Chile's Maipo Valley and Colchagua. For most of the 20th century, it was the world's most widely planted premium red wine grape until it was surpassed by Merlot in the 1990s. However, by 2015, Cabernet Sauvignon had once again become the most widely planted wine grape, with a total of 341,000 hectares (3,410 km2) under vine worldwide.

Production

For over 25 years, A&K Cooperage has been producing 60 (59) gallon barrels, but they also make 30, 48, and 70 gallon barrels of both American and French oak. [8] They are made in the European tradition, treating the American oak wood with a process known as fire bending, toasted over an oak fire, which renders the wood more pliable. [3] [8] The barrels are then air-dried for approximately 18 to 24 months, but up to 36 months. [3] [9] The source of the oak is the forests in northern Missouri and Kentucky. [3] The barrels typically have eight galvanized hoops and can be free of char due to the mild slow burning process of barrel making. [10] Shipments are then sent to their clients, which in 1982 was stated to be with minimum orders of 25 barrels. [10]

Related Research Articles

Missouri wine

Missouri wine refers to wine made from grapes grown in the U.S. state of Missouri. German immigrants in the early-to-mid-19th century, founded the wine industry in Missouri, resulting in its wine corridor being called the Missouri "Rhineland". Later Italian immigrants also entered wine production. In the mid-1880s, more wine was produced by volume in Missouri than in any other state. Before Prohibition, Missouri was the second-largest wine-producing state in the nation. Missouri had the first area recognized as a federally designated American Viticultural Area with the Augusta AVA acknowledged on June 20, 1980. There are now four AVAs in Missouri. In 2017 there were 125 wineries operating in the state of Missouri, up from 92 in 2009.

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Twomey Cellars

Twomey Cellars is a California winery. It was established in 1999 by the Duncan Family, who have operated the successful Silver Oak Cellars in California since 1972. The Duncan Family started Twomey Cellars to pursue varietals other than Cabernet Sauvignon. Twomey has two wineries; one in Calistoga in the Napa Valley, and one in Healdsburg in the Russian River Valley, and produces mainly Pinot noir, Merlot and Sauvignon blanc. Twomey’s Sauvignon blanc is a blend of Sauvignon blanc grapes from their estate vineyards at their wineries in Napa Valley and Russian River Valley.

Ray Duncan American businessman

Raymond Twomey Duncan known as Ray Duncan was an American entrepreneur and vintner. Originally involved in oil entrepreneurship in Colorado and founder of Duncan Oil, he was the founder along with Justin Meyer of Silver Oak Cellars in 1972, a successful winery based in the Napa Valley and Alexander Valley. Today his sons David Duncan and Tim Duncan run Silver Oak Cellars, as well as Twomey Cellars. Duncan established the Durango Mountain "Purgatory" Ski Resort in 1965 and was chairman of the board for the ski industry organization Colorado Ski Country USA. He was inducted into the Colorado Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in 2006.

Daniel Baron American winemaker

Daniel Baron is an American winemaker. He is best known for his work with the Duncan family-owned Silver Oak Cellars and Twomey Cellars, and is Director of Winemaking for both. Originally a field worker for John Rolleri at Chateau Montelena, he gained experience in the Bordeaux region of France and was mentored by the likes of grape geneticist Professor Harold Olmo, and winemakers Jean-Claude Berrouet and Justin Meyer. He became general manager of Christian Moueix's Dominus Estate in the 1980s. He became winemaker for Silver Oak, an exclusive Cabernet Sauvignon producer, in 1994, and was trained by Justin Meyer to follow in his footsteps as Silver Oak's winemaker before Meyer’s retirement in 2001. In 1999, Baron was instrumental in persuading the Duncans to establish Twomey to pursue Merlot, Pinot noir, and Sauvignon blanc after discovering high quality Merlot grapes on Silver Oak’s Soda Canyon Ranch Vineyard. He has served on boards such as the American Society of Enology and Viticulture and the Napa Valley Wine Technical Group.

Justin Meyer American winemaker

Justin Meyer was an American vintner, enologist, and monk of the Christian Brothers. He was the founder along with Ray Duncan of Silver Oak Cellars in 1972, a successful winery based in the Napa Valley and Alexander Valley. Today Duncan's sons David Duncan and Tim Duncan run Silver Oak Cellars, as well as Twomey Cellars, established in 1999. Meyer sold his share of the company to Duncan in 2001. One of California's top wine experts, he was President of the American Vineyard Foundation in the 1990s and also held numerous other positions in the wine industry. The San Francisco Chronicle cites Meyer as "one of the legends of the Napa Valley".

David Duncan (vintner) vintner

David Duncan is an American vintner and entrepreneur. The President and Chief Executive Officer of Duncan Oil, he is also the President and Chief Executive Officer of Silver Oak Cellars and Managing Partner of Twomey Cellars, successful wineries in northern California, operating in the Napa, Alexander and Russian River Valleys. He is the son of late Ray Duncan, an oil and wine entrepreneur who co-founded Silver Oak in 1972 with Justin Meyer. Silver Oak is a family-run and owned business, and his brother Tim Duncan is Executive Vice President of the company. ColoradoBiz says that David Duncan is "as much a hands-on winery president as he can be", as president of a winery that has "reached cult status" for its Cabernet Sauvignon production.

Dominio del Plata Winery

Dominio del Plata is a medium-sized winery located in the Lujan de Cuyo region of Mendoza Argentina. It was founded in 1999 by enologist and entrepreneur Susana Balbo.

Cakebread Cellars Winery

Cakebread Cellars is a Napa Valley winery known for its Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc wines, which are internationally distributed. Founded in 1973 by Jack and Dolores Cakebread in Rutherford, California, the winery produces approximately 75,000 cases of wine per year.

Ovid Napa Valley

Ovid Napa Valley is a winery in Pritchard Hill, to the northeast of Oakville in the Napa Valley of California. It was established in 2000. The area, in one of the rockiest parts of the Napa Valley with iron-red and yellow soils, typically produces earthy varieties of Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. Ovid winery is solar-powered and organically farmed and has been certified "Napa Green" by the Napa County Department of Public Works and the California Green Business Program. In 2017, a majority share of Ovid was sold to the Duncan family, who own Silver Oak Cellars and Twomey Cellars.

References

  1. ↑ Food & Beverage Market Place. Grey House Publishing. 2008. p. 61. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  2. ↑ Secondary Wood Products Manufacturers Directory. Directory Department of Miller Freeman. 1989. p. 593. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "A&K Cooperage". Artisan Barrels. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  4. ↑ The Wine Spectator. Wine Group. 1989. p. 1. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  5. ↑ Jennings, Richard (6 June 2012). "Silver Oak: Reappraising a California Cabernet Icon". Huffington Post . Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  6. ↑ Vineyard & Winery Management. Vineyard & Winery Management. 1996. p. 31. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  7. ↑ "Wine Review". Silver Oak Cellars. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  8. 1 2 "A&K Cooperage". Cooper's Oak Winery. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  9. ↑ Practical Winery/vineyard. D. Neel. 2009. p. 76. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  10. 1 2 Practical Winery. Don Neel and Associates. 1982. p. 4. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
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