Calistoga barrel crafters rely on old-world techniques

(PD) - If two years of large grape harvests has created a shortage of wine barrels in Sonoma and Napa counties, it would be news to Vincent Nadalie. His family has owned and operated an old-world cooperage in Calistoga since 1980 and boasts five generations of experience.

“Just tell me who needs them, and we can supply them,” said Nadalie, Nadalie USA’s sales manager. “Just come and ring my doorbell.”

Starting each day at 6:30 a.m., the company’s 16 coopers, including five masters, produce 60 barrels a day using Eastern European oak and American oak that comes from a Pennsylvania mill owned by the company.

Another 160 French oak barrels are made daily at the company’s main cooperage, Tonnellerie Nadalie  in Ludon-Medoc, Bordeaux, France. Because wine barrels usually last only for three or four vintages, wineries are constantly seeking new ones.

The constant demand has Nadalie thinking about expanding production, but he is reluctant to completely modernize his operation.

“I have an advantage because I’ve been building and repairing barrels for years,” said Nadalie. He grew up making barrels for the family business and, like his workers, still lives nearby.

Nadalie was raised in St. Helena, attended public schools, became a master cooper, attended Napa Valley College and returned to Europe to complete his education in business and marketing before returning to Calistoga. He and his wife, Katja, have two sons, Raphael, 10 and Silvio, 7, who go to the same schools he attended.

Nadalie is proud, not only of his five-generation heritage as a French cooper, but also of his family, which has been making barrels since 1902.