Wood, Whiskey and Wine
A History of Barrels
Henry H. WorkA unique and enlightening history of wooden barrels over 2,000 years.
Barrels – we rarely acknowledge their importance, but without them we would be missing out on some of the world’s finest wines and spirits. For over two thousand years they’ve been used to store, transport and age an incredibly diverse array of provisions around the globe. In this comprehensive and wide-ranging book, now available in paperback, Henry H. Work tells the intriguing story of the significant and ever-evolving role wooden barrels have played during the last two millennia.
Offering a new way of thinking about one of the most enduring and successful products in history, Wood, Whiskey and Wine is a must-read for everyone from technology and history buffs to wine and whiskey aficionados.
A unique and enlightening history of wooden barrels over 2,000 years.
Barrels – we rarely acknowledge their importance, but without them we would be missing out on some of the world’s finest wines and spirits. For over two thousand years they’ve been used to store, transport and age an incredibly diverse array of provisions around the globe. In this comprehensive and wide-ranging book, now available in paperback, Henry H. Work tells the intriguing story of the significant and ever-evolving role wooden barrels have played during the last two millennia.
Offering a new way of thinking about one of the most enduring and successful products in history, Wood, Whiskey and Wine is a must-read for everyone from technology and history buffs to wine and whiskey aficionados.
A unique and enlightening history of wooden barrels over 2,000 years.
Barrels – we rarely acknowledge their importance, but without them we would be missing out on some of the world’s finest wines and spirits. For over two thousand years they’ve been used to store, transport and age an incredibly diverse array of provisions around the globe. In this comprehensive and wide-ranging book, now available in paperback, Henry H. Work tells the intriguing story of the significant and ever-evolving role wooden barrels have played during the last two millennia.
Offering a new way of thinking about one of the most enduring and successful products in history, Wood, Whiskey and Wine is a must-read for everyone from technology and history buffs to wine and whiskey aficionados.
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Work has done a fine job directing the spotlight toward an object that seems to beg for inattention. Although much diminished from their peak a century ago, coopers are today thriving again with American bourbon makers clamoring for new casks. (Federal regulations require that anything labeled bourbon be aged in new oak casks). The number of craft spirits producers has also surged in the past decade, and barrels are suddenly in short supply. Among vintners, high-quality barrels also remain in high demand, although makers of cheaper wines have embraced workarounds, including the use of oak chips and short planks placed in stainless steel tanks. Work offers a breezy tour through all this and more. When you reach the end of this book, I can pretty much guarantee you won't think of barrels the same way again. Next time you pass a geranium planter made from an old whiskey barrel cleaved in two, take a moment to pause and pay your respects. This was the container that built America.
'Wall Street Journal
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there is plenty in the book of interest, and not just for the many fans of wine and whiskey . . . Henry Work sets out to demonstrate the technological, cultural and economic importance of barrels from their development, probably before 500 BC, to their ubiquity for storage and transport from the Middle Ages until the early 20th century . . . Wood, whiskey and wine provide a snappy alliterative title and happen also to be Work's own direct experience he is a cooper who has worked in the vineyards of Napa Valley, Kentucky whiskey distilleries (he knows to spell it without the e when talking about the drinkable stuff) and in New Zealand.
'The Spectator
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Work. an American cooper now living in New Zealand, writes intimately of his metier and materials, starting with early evidence of the barrel's invention among the Celts . . . Sections on how staves are made – often sawn when the material is American oak, or split when it's European – feel like lessons from a master craftsman.
'TLS
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Henry H. Work, a cooper himself since the 70s, takes us through the two millennia-long story of cooperage from the birth of the trade to the evolution from bucket to barrel to its function in beverage to the uncertain future of the craft. This is an interesting and thorough look at the modest containers significant role in history. Its sure to give any beer, wine, or whiskey enthusiast a serious (metaphorical) rager.
'Craft Magazine (US)
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a thorough and entertaining journey from amphorae, barrels predecessors, through their period of domination to their relative demise due to replacement with such as plastic and metal containers . . . there is much to interest both the general reader and the beer enthusiast in this well written history of a container that has been with humanity for so long.
'London Drinker
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Wood, Whiskey and Wine is an enlightening study of this humble wooden receptacle. In simple, non-academic prose, Work traces the wooden barrel from its Celtic roots, through its heyday as a necessity for seafaring industries, to its current utility in aging alcohol . . . Casual and concise, this is a book for every wine drinker who enjoys a bit of history.
'Terroirist.com
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Someone was kind enough to give me a terrific book at Christmas called Wood, Whiskey and Wine: A History of Barrels . . . Now it might not look like, yes, a barrel of laughs, but the story of the barrel is a truly fascinating one.
'Irish Post
Introduction
1. Need: Why Wooden Barrels?
2. Evolution: From Buckets to Barrels
3. Celts: A Nexus of Skills and Technology
4. Romans: Employing the Barrels for Trade
5. Middle Ages: A Surge in Barrel Use
6. Parallels: Wooden Barrels and Wooden Boats
7. Organizations: From Guilds to Cooperages
8. Oak: Wood for Barrels
9. Air, Water and Fire: Crafting Wooden Barrels
10. Wine: Barrels and Oak Ageing
11. Craftsmen: The Coopers
12. Other Barrels: Spirits, Fortified Wines and Beer
13. Oak Flavouring: Oak Alternatives and Barrel Shaving
14: Cooperage: The Bigger Picture
References
Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index
Henry H. Work is a cooper who has worked in the vineyards of the Napa Valley and California and with the whiskey distilleries of Kentucky. He has written extensively on the subject, including for Practical Winery and Vineyard and Australian and New Zealand Grapegrower and Winemaker magazines. A native of the USA, he now lives in Tavira, Portugal.