The Romanian oaks used today in cooperage come from a “French-style” forestry practice that has been gradually established in Romania since the second half of the 19th century.
Thus, the forestry activities of Transilvania Bois adhere to the fundamentals of responsible forestry. In this regard, and thanks to its organization and suitable equipment, Transilvania Bois ensures its supply from Romanian regions where oak meets the requirements for barrel manufacturing.
Each year, Transilvania Bois makes every effort to acquire the finest oaks destined for Vlad Cooperage. Its facilities provide a large area dedicated to the reception and sorting of logs, allowing for easy traceability of the raw material supply.
Thanks to its geographical location and forestry experience, Transilvania Bois is able to control its raw material supplies by selecting the finest oaks from Romania’s three historic forest regions : Transylvania, Moldavia and Wallachia.
Tansilvania Bois carries out its own forestry operations to ensure the best possible selection of oak trees. It has a real knowledge of the forest and standing timber. Logging is mainly carried out in the Transylvanian mountains of the Western Carpathians, on the Zarand and Bihor mountains.
Romanian Moldavia supplies the Quercus Robur or pedunculate oak. Romanian Moldavia supplies the Quercus Robur or pedunculate oak. In Moldavia, harvesting takes place mainly in the eastern Carpathians.
Wallachia ‘s geographical situation favors the presence of sessile and pedunculate oaks. The oaks come mainly from the southern Carpathians, where we find the Fagaras and Muntenia mountains.
Stave wood is produced according to traditional cooperage methods and time-honoured expertise. Each step — from splitting to sawing to final inspection — is meticulously carried out. These processes are essential to ensure the watertightness and durability of the future staves that will form the body of the barrel.
Our team carefully receives, selects, and measures the finest oak logs to obtain high-quality stave wood.
Once sorted and delivered to our stave mill, the logs are crosscut into billets, based on the required lengths for the intended barrel capacities.
The billets are then split into quarters along the wood grain. This method ensures the structural integrity and watertightness of the future staves.
The quarters are then radially sawn into boards along the grain. During edging, the bark and sapwood are removed from one side, and the heartwood from the other, as neither is suitable for stave production.
The stave wood is sorted and stacked, either in open piles or chimney-stacked, before being placed in the seasoning yard for a period of 20 to 36 months. There, it is naturally exposed to wind, rain, frost and sun — a process that gradually leaches out harsh tannins and results in a flawless wood quality.
The logs received at Transilvania Bois are sorted according to their species, size, and quality.
This sorting process is essential to optimise and maximise the value of every part of the log. The sections intended for sawing are first passed through a debarker to remove the outer bark.
The logs are then cut lengthwise into either waney-edged boards (thick planks with natural edges left intact) or squared timber (planed on all four sides to achieve precise dimensions and smooth surfaces).
A secondary cutting process is carried out to produce boards with more specific dimensions, ensuring that the raw material is used to its fullest potential.
Transilvania Bois, where a passion for the forest and oak meets excellent craftsmanship. Quality products from sustainably managed forests.
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