“Wine
barrel art” can be defined as the broad range of aesthetic objects made from wine
barrels through an artisan’s skill and creative imagination. These objects make natural elements of a “wine
décor” for decorating and accessorizing wineries, tasting rooms, bars and
restaurants, as well as home wine cellars and bars.
In
this article we provide a brief review of wine barrel art – focusing on its
origins in the old world folk-art of barrel carving. In Part 2 of this article we will provide an
overview of the wide range of artisan products made from wine barrels today.
Wine
barrels have been around a very long time.
The first recorded accounts of wood casks used for storing and
transporting wine were in Babylon about 4000 years ago. However, the wine barrel we know today was most likely developed
by the Celts around 400 BC, who had migrated to what is now the Burgundy
region of France. They used techniques
employing heat, water and pressure adapted from ship-building to shape wood
staves into water-tight containers. The Romans embraced the
concept and made extensive use of these barrels to transport all kinds of bulk
goods around their empire, spreading the art of barrel making widely across
Europe.
In recent times the use of barrels to store and transport most
bulk goods gradually gave way to other more efficient methods, but their use in
storing and aging wine and spirits is going stronger today than ever. The
reason is the unique ability of oak barrels to impart the tannins and flavors
sought by makers of wine and spirits, while regulating the inward flow of
oxygen and the outward flow of liquid.
The earliest examples of wine barrel art are lost in the sands of
time (wood after-all eventually decomposes), but large barrels full of wine
most certainly inspired many old world artisans to decorate them with
carvings. Only some of the biggest, best
and more recent of these survive to this day.
Many of them are in Germany, where wine-making on a large scale
intersected with the presence of highly skilled wood carvers. Some of the most well-known examples are in
the Heidelberg Castle. This ornately
carved and embellished wine tank dates back to 1591. Local vineyard owners paid their taxes by
adding a portion of their output to it.
As
a side note, this “small” wine tank was supplemented with an additional “large”
wine tank in 1751. …apparently taxes
went up.
In
those times it was a sign of status for wineries to show off elaborate barrel
carvings on their large wine tanks, as well as on their smaller barrels. They served
as signage at wineries, as well as decorative displays inside, depicting a wide
range of subject matter - from the owner’s favorite vintage or pastime, to
landscapes and wildlife scenes, to bacchanalian celebrations.
The
ornate barrel carvings in the legendary Achaia Clauss winery near Patras Greece
are another example. This winery was
founded (not coincidentally) by the Bavarian Gustav Clauss around 1860, who
brought with him to Greece his love of winemaking and the barrel carving
tradition. A typically ornate carving is
shown here, with a distinctly Greek theme.
This
old world tradition nearly faded away until being revived by a handful of new
world artisans. The largest collection
of modern day barrel carvings in the world is on display at the beautiful Sebastiani
Winery in Sonoma California. It includes
hundreds of hand-carved barrels of all sizes plus many carved doors, posts and
beams inside the winery. It is all the
work of one man, Earle Brown, who dedicated much of his life to creating it
under the patronage of owner August Sebastiani.
Here are some examples of his work.
Tom
Freeman is founder and owner of eWoodArt.com, where he has integrated a
lifelong career in software engineering with his passions for woodworking and
wine. Contact him at tom@ewoodart.com
