When considering how to add character to a wine cellar, bar or lounge, the thought of wine barrels may cross a designer’s mind. True, wine barrels can make interesting tables or be fashioned into other furniture; however, this rustic look doesn’t blend well with all designs.
Now, discerning connoisseurs have the ability to bring the character of a wine barrel into their cellar (without the barrel itself) by choosing reclaimed wine barrel flooring.
Flooring options
Reclaimed wine barrel flooring is made from all parts of the barrel.
Flooring styles include:
- Cooperage: Made from the heads of the barrels. Cooperage stamps are scattered throughout the planks.
- Wine-infused: Made from the interior of the barrel heads. Planks are stained by red wine.
- Stave: Made from the individual staves or strips of wood that make up the body of the barrel. Markings from the metal hoops and an overall weathered look are achieved.
The transformation
When this flooring was first developed, only solid planks were available. Over time, however, the product has been engineered to become more dimensionally stable and suitable for installation in more humid environments such as wine cellars.
Nowadays, a thin veneer of the barrel wood is taken and applied to a Baltic birch backing, which is sustainably harvested. This, together with the fact that the barrels are kept out of landfills, relieves demand for other flooring materials and makes it an excellent choice for the environmentally conscious.
The process of engineering this flooring is quite labour-intensive. No two planks are alike since the selection of barrels always varies. Each plank is also hand-crafted. To make just three square feet of cooperage or wine-infused style flooring, a whole barrel is required. More of the stave style flooring comes out of a barrel as the surface area used is much greater.
Adrienne Gavard is the marketing and operations manager for Blue Grouse Wine Cellars in North Vancouver, B.C. She can be reached at 1.888.400.2675 or adrienne@bluegrousewinecellars.com.
