When Kevin Glastonbury wants a specific type of barrel for wines he makes at Yalumba, like The Octavius, he doesn’t have to go far. About 100 metres to the cooperage.
Kevin makes the premium red wines at Yalumba, and he's very specific about the barrels these wines will age in. Good thing that Yalumba has kept its cooperage tradition alive, one of only a few wineries in the world that makes its own barrels on site.
Yalumba imports oak staves from the world’s best oak forests in France and America, and then air-dries them for many Barossa summers and winters. This extended seasoning imparts rich chocolate mocha characters and adds another layer of texture to the wines. Once seasoned, Broady and the other coopers start their work: cutting, shaping, pounding, and firing the barrels to toast the wood. Unique to Yalumba are the 90-litre octaves made for The Octavius.
When you visit the winery, poke your head into the cooperage. You may see Kevin and Broady (and his dog Dash) talking about the perfect toast for Yalumba barrels.