LAGLASSE STATS - PRICE LISTS

The rising cost of new oak barrels, coupled with advances in the quality of oak adjuncts, have led many of our customers to express interest in premium French oak stave inserts. After extensive research, we have found a stave insert supplier that meets our quality standards—Laglasse. Founded in 1986 by Alain Laglasse, the small, family owned company produces oak staves for some of the finest cooperages in the world including Tonnellerie Damy and Tonnellerie Billon. Alain's passion for the forests of France and extensive experience have solidified his reputation as a French oak expert, so well in fact that Laglasse's barrel stave production is completely allocated to existing clients for the next two years. Laglasse's long standing relationship with two of our coopers gives us confidence in their wood sourcing, and a proven track record of success dating back more than fifteen years.

Alain works closely with his son, Jerome, who was brought on in 1996 to focus on the manufacturing of staves at their Hayes, France production site. As the company grew additional space was needed to keep up with demand, and in 1998 a ten-acre production site was opened in Varize, France. Initially the company focused on wood trading and later on stave boards, but with twenty years experience in the cooperage industry the next logical step was to bring their knowledge of oak to a line of premium French oak stave insert systems. These systems are designed to meet the needs of the winemaking community and are suitable for use in neutral barrels as well as stainless steel tanks.

Using a patented convection oven heating process to toast staves to light, medium, and medium plus profiles, they consistently achieve a broad spectrum of beneficial structural and aromatic attributes, and a toast level that is uniform throughout the thickness of the stave. To give winemakers additional control over the interaction between oak and wine, two grain widths are offered: tight and extra-tight. As is standard for premium cooperage oak, all of Laglasse's products are air-dried for a minimum of 24 months before toasting, and are completely free of sapwood and bark.

When asked what makes Laglasse products superior in the current marketplace, Alain's answer is clear and simple: "better quality." As an oak expert he is quick to find defects in a potential purchase and selects only the finest timbers to create a product that will meet the standards of his very discerning clients—his most important objective. Alain explained that he is able to determine many important details about a timber stand through a straightforward visual inspection. For example, he can confirm the species of oak (Sessile or Robur) just by examining the thickness of the tree bark (Sessile having thinner bark than Robur).

Alain's experience and expertise does not end in the forest; he has been using his proprietary convection heating method to toast staves for other well-known companies for several years now. The quality of those staves is the main reason Laglasse chose to create his own line of products—he saw the opportunity for a better product through more stringent wood selection and preparation. Alain and Jerome Laglasse know that the success of the product line carrying their family name relies on their ability to provide consistent, high-quality stave inserts.