Our Mission

 

ReCoop's mission is to provide a winemaker with a refurbished, world-class barrel of the highest quality.  

bulletWe are committed to supplying a barrel that does not compromise the quality of the wine aged in a ReCooped barrel.
bulletWe are committed to providing the wine industry with a real solution that promotes sustainability and responsible manufacturing practices. 
bulletWe are committed to the highest customer service standards by always monitoring our production quality and never shipping a deficient product.
bulletWe are committed to our community by providing a solution that reduces unnecessary waste and a pollution free manufacturing process.  
bulletWe are committed to our employees by enforcing an equal opportunity and discrimination-free, safe work environment.  
bulletWe are committed to providing our shareholders with a profitable investment with complete managerial accountability. 

A problem in need of a Solution

An oak barrel made from 200-300 year old trees will become neutral after three fills. It's ability to impart oak and oxygenate the wine will considerably diminish with each fill. After only five years, a handcrafted $300-$1,200 barrel, will often be sold for $15 as a wooden planter.  In California alone, over 200,000 barrels a year go into the planter market.  

In the past...

For centuries, barrels have been shaved in order to increase their useful life and reduce manufacturing costs.  A variety of processes continue to be employed toward these ends, most of which remove tartrates, other contaminants and, at most, 1/8" of stave and head material by either scraping, planning or routering.  Once completed, the barrel is toasted and closed up. Though these techniques are inexpensive, relatively quick and accomplished on site, the outcome often compromises the quality of the wine. 

A typical shaved barrel is characterized by having a strong new oak background with a tendency to impart such undesirable off-flavors as "barbequed chicken," a  "lacquer nose," or a "rubbery" mouth feel. 

THE RECOOP SOLUTION

Our process, developed over the past 14 years, has focused on ensuring that no residue of wine, ethanol, sulfur or other contaminants remain in the wood prior aging and the ensuing tasting.  We achieve this with sophisticated tooling and computer controlled processes and ensure consistency with strict quality control management.  We have successfully ReCooped over 40,000 barrels and continue to help our clients win medals in local, county, state, national and international wine competitions.