In Oregon's Wine Country, Local Trees Become Barrels for Wine and Spirits

DeFerrari buys almost all of his oak from farmers and small woodlot owners within 50 miles of McMinnville. Staves are cut to whatever width each log allows—the wood is too valuable to adhere to strict widths for each cut—and barrels are toasted over a fire to allow them to become more pliable and to give them the right flavor. 

”It’s kind of like barbecuing over wood versus cooking your steak in the oven,” he says. “There is no time and temperature recipe for it.” His coopers, who are involved in every step of the process, judge the toast of each barrel by sight and smell. 

That hands-on knowledge has helped the company weather fluctuations in the industry. Wine sales have been declining in the US, and many winemakers are looking toward cheaper options, such as concrete and stainless steel containers, to age their wines. Oregon Barrel Works once primarily served wineries, but whiskey barrels account for about 90 percent of its sales today. Because Oregon oak qualifies as American oak under bourbon regulations, DeFerrari has found a larger market in Kentucky than on the West Coast. Frankfort-based bourbon distillery Buffalo Trace, founded in 1805, is among the company’s biggest customers.

Still, wine remains part of the rhythm of the cooperage. The fall harvest season brings a familiar rush as wineries prepare to ferment and age their grapes.

“Everybody’s going crazy. Everybody wants their barrels delivered September 15,” DeFerrari said last month. “So it’s a fun time, but also a crazy time.”