The French National Forests

Working directly With the French National Forests Organisation

Bossuet Cooperage only work with French oak wood, except for any special requests when the cooperage can provide oak wood from other origins.

From the beginning, Jean-Louis Bossuet has been working with the French National Forests Organisation, and has his personal membership card for this organisation. This status enables frequent walks in the forests to select and estimate the trees, as soon as the Forests Organisations have announced they are ready to be cut.

The wood quality can be determined directly from the living trees, in the forest. The "Giants", Oak wood trees in these forests, are majestic colossus of an incredible height, and from 200 to 250 years old. Jean-Louis Bossuet and his team spend time to inspect each tree in an area, looking for any slight defect to help them estimate the quantity of quality oak wood that could be used in the barrels production.

"It is important to underline the remarkable management of the French national Forests Organisation, making sure that each area will be naturally renewed before organizing the final cut" quotes Jean-Louis Bossuet. "It takes more than two centuries for a tree to grow and to be ready to be cut, when we come to an open forest area to estimate a future cut, we know that this area won't be opened anymore before two centuries and that we will never come back again... We have to be very respectful of these trees, older than anyone of us and having gone through so much History!"

The Stave Mill estimates and purchases oak wood coming from many French National Forests such as Jupille, Tronçais, Blois, Bercé, Bellême, Gâvre, Vosges, Darney, Senonches, Ribeauvillé, Loches...

Below is a view from an open area of Jupille Forest visited in May 2013, before the final cut.