FRENCH TREES GO ON STRIKE
DEMAND MORE MONEY AND MORE
TIME WITH CARLA BRUNI

Last year I blamed the success of the wine trade for the rising prices of French oak.  I said that too much wine was being sold so winemakers were buying more and more barrels. This year I am going to blame either the Chinese Communists or Carla Bruni.  The Chinese have discovered hardwood forests in Europe and something I did not know before: oak can be used for other things besides barrels...furniture, paneling, construction...who knew?  Asians  and many others are buying lots of hardwood in Europe. This stuff only grows so fast, so we either have to pay the price or start making concrete barrels. What Carla Bruni will take the rap for I haven\'t decided yet, but some of you complained about the lack of pictorial content in the last newsletter so the new First Lady of France may yet come in handy.

There is no getting around the fact that the Euro prices of barrels are going up and the dollar is not doing so well.  What can wineries do??

1) Make sure you are buying the right kind of barrel. Make sure you are getting more than one year\'s use out of a barrel. Compare second-use barrels and see where you are getting your best value. Our barrels give good flavors longer than others.  If you can use barrels longer and get better flavors, in the long run you pay less

2) Take advantage of our early delivery prices. You get container prices by ordering early.

3) Try our Hungarian barrels. They have become very popular the past few years. Find out why

2008 FRANCOIS FRERES PRICES:
Early delivery prices:
April delivery: 657 Euros -- deadline March 15th
May delivery: 682 Euros -- deadline April 15th
The Francois\' give excellent prices for early delivery.
Everyone loves these low prices, so act quickly.   It\'s first come, first served. It takes over thirty days for the barrels to cross the ocean so don\'t delay.
June/July/August:
1-10 barrels:     751 Euros
11-24:                741 Euros
25-49:                724 Euros
50-74:                720 Euros
75-99:                713 Euros
100-124:            702 Euros
125-149:            692 Euros
150+:                 684 Euros

All prices FOB Napa except for full containers. There is a 30 Euro up charge for Troncais and a 25 Euro up charge for wood hoops.    Remember, first come, first served.  Every year we run out of barrels but those who order in time are always well taken care of.

Three year old wood: We will have some barrels (both Bordeaux and Burgundy shape) available in three year old wood at a 30 Euro up charge. We also have thin-stave export barrels this year! Limited quantities are available so please contact us about this. 

2008 FRANCOIS FRERES HUNGARY PRICES:

Last year these barrels really took off. I have been joking about allocations for some time now. Last year we stopped taking orders in June as we were sold out.  The larger sized barrels are wonderful.

Barrel description:             Less than container:            Container:
Bordeaux:
225 Liter Export                         $655                                          $620
225 Liter export thin stave         $670                                          $635
Chateau Tradition                      $750                                          $720
Chateau Ferre                           $730                                          $695

Burgundy:
228 Liter export                         $655                                          $620
228 Liter Traditional                   $715                                          $695 
228 L Prestige Pinot                  $725                                          $695

Larger Sizes:
265 Liter                                     $695                                          $660
300 Liter                                     $775                                          $750
400 Liter                                     $900                                          $870
500 Liter                                     $1035                                        $975

As always, barrel prices are FOB warehouse Napa.  Container prices include delivery for wineries in California.  There is an up charge for container delivery to wineries in Oregon and Washington.

Order deadlines for Hungarian barrels:
Summer delivery: April 15
Early Fall delivery: May 15
Late Fall delivery: June 15
Our sales of Hungarian barrels climb dramatically every year. Demand is beginning to outstrip our ability to supply so act promptly. 
Three year wood:  Every year the cooperage holds back some wood for an extra year of air-drying. This year my allotment is smaller than last year\'s so I am giving preference to those folks who bought them in 2007. There is an upcharge of $30 for three year wood.

In Oregon and Washington, you can contact Rick de Ferrari for Francois Freres barrel needs. Rick also sells Taransaud in Oregon and Eastern Washington. Phone: 503 472 8883/email: rick@oregonbarrelworks.com. Rick also sells his own Oregon oak barrels.

In New York and North Carolina we have new agents for Francois Freres. In New York, Pennsylvania, etc it\'s Tom Higgins, who can be reached via e mail at thiggins13@hotmail.com.

For Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas it\'s Jeffrey Godkin. He can be reached at 704-892-4767, or jeffreygodkin@bellsouth.net.

Mini-Moke: Some of you were a little confused by my Austin Powers type references. Let me make it clearer.  We are looking for somebody to sell barrels. This is a great opportunity.  I hired Moke because I realized there were areas I was not covering because the business had grown. Thanks to Moke sales have grown so now we need another sales person. Send resumes to either Moke or to Mel.

Electronic newsletter:   We like doing this as we save on time and money, plus help save the planet. Sending out a newsletter via the post means we have to wait three days for the printer, then stuff envelopes etc. We will send out one snail mail newsletter this year.  Do you want other people at your winery to get on this list?  Does someone you know and care about want to get on our electronic list? Then send that e-mail address to Melissa Basine.

TARANSAUD 2008

Remember Kool and the Gang and their big hit, Celebration. Well, this year Cruel and the Gang are playing ‘Allocation’. We were hoping to get more barrels this year, but our allocation of Taransaud barrels has not increased. I thought that with higher prices we might see some fall off, but all we get is calls for more barrels. In other words, we cannot take new or increased orders unless old customers don’t buy.  We might have more barrels  in  January 2009 following harvest.

2008 Taransaud Prices

Prices are FOB warehouse American Canyon. Storage of barrels for more than one month billed at $5 per barrel per month. For large orders we can deliver to the winery and save you delivery costs if you take the barrels off the container so we don’t have to unload it.

Bordeaux:
225 L Center of France export………….………....792€
225 L Center of France export thin stave……......782€
225 L Export Forets Diverses……………….….….734€
225 L Chateau Ferre, Center of France…………..809€
225 L Chateau, Full-tilt boogie……………………...824€
The wood hoops wrapped with osier help your wine feel better about itself.

Burgundy:
Export Center of France…………………………...753€
Export, Forets Diverses…………………………...734€
Wood hoops available for 15 Euro up charge.

Other sizes:
114 L……………………………………………...377€
Larger barrels…………………………………….ask        

We don’t have many 500 L or 600 L barrels so these are definitely restricted to people who got larger barrels in 2007. Even Forets Diverses barrels are on allocation.

For 60 gallon barrels my allocation is roughly the same this year as it was last year. If you want more barrels, let us know and we will see what we can do.  I must turn in all my pre-harvest delivery orders in by the end of April.  If I don’t hear from you by tax time (mid-April), I will assume your interest has waned. 

TARANSAUD TANKS:  We are seeing another hot year for tank sales. So, if you are interested, let us know very soon. We have good availability in 2009.

TARANSAUD EN PRIMEUR: If you are interested in our futures program for Taransaud barrels, please call us. You can save money and assure yourself a good allocation.

Call us at 415 751 6306 or email us.

All the best,
Mel Knox