Barrel Master

Pickles fermented in Oak Barrels are very tasty.

We talked to Necdet, the oldest tradesmen of Eyüpsultan Nisanca district here in Istanbul. Necdet Yüksek who opened his shop in the carpenters and barrels site 55 years ago, stated that his barrel craftsmanship was inherited from his father and my grandfather said that he gave my father an apprentice to a Greek barrel master;

Of course, the best barrel masters at that time were the Greeks. The craftsmanship passed from my father to me. On the way to school, I would bring food to my father and watch him whenever possible. In my father's time, barrel production was a very profitable business. I was studying at Vefa high school, I left school and started to work in my father's business. It was wartime. We were shipping olives, cheese, pickles, and fish to the army with barrels, he says.

Lacerda was Sold Abroad in Barrel Necdet Yüksek, who explained that during his youth, more Torik (the largest of the bonito fish) were caught in the Golden Horn and made in Lacerda.

Lacerda was sold abroad in barrels. The residents of Istanbul used to buy barrels, especially for fermenting pickles. In fact, pickles fermented in barrels made of oak wood are much more delicious. That's why the people bought oak barrels. It gives a distinct taste and aroma.

A Barrels Produced in One Week Master Necdet say that they have purchased the trees from the Forestry Administration with tender and explains the barrel production as follows;

We mow the trees, line them up for air passage. Thus, we accelerate drying naturally in the sun and wind. The most important factor in barrel manufacturing is that the tree is dry. 1 cm thick wood is dried for a year, 2 cm is dried for two years. After strapping according to the diameter of the barrel in the saw and planer machine, we heat it with fire and twist it with torture and make the barrel normal. Barrel manufacturing takes about a week. It is a tricky craft and can pose a risk to your fingers if attention is not paid. Adding that the works are not the same as before, most of the 10 barrel factories working in the region where they are located are closed and only 2 shops remain, the master continues as follows;

People now buy it for decorative purposes. They recently bought it as décor for a series set. I built the shop for my son and he runs it. Although I am retired, I come and go every day and support it. I have masters with whom I have worked for many years here. I want to call through you so that our old crafts can be claimed.

Oak Barrel for Wine With the investments made by Turkey in winemaking in recent years, its wines have started to come to the places they deserve. Every winemaker now has a unique background, albeit a small background, the grape variety that can be grown according to the local weather, and the accumulation of material knowledge.

We hear more often the importance of resting (aging) wine in oak barrels. Moreover, it is often said that American oak barrels are not a substitute for French-produced barrels. Nadalie, one of France's 104-year-old famous barrel factories, produces oak barrels without using glue or nails. Nadalie, located in the Loudon Medoc Region of France, is one of the rare establishments in the world among the dozens of oak barrels in the country. The firm is owned by a family business that was founded in 1902. It uses one hundred percent French oak. It produces 70 thousand barrels a year. Its barrels are used all over the world, from Europe to America, Australia. It is also the customer of many manufacturers from Turkey.

Why Oak? ByBecause primarily its texture is tough. It has fine pores that are invisible to the eye. In this way, it ensures the contact of the wine with the air at the ideal rate. The vanilla and the spice flavors in their texture transfer to the wine. By the way, let's not forget to mention "every kind of oak is not suitable for barrel production". In France, % 25 of the land is covered with forests, but the oaks for barrel come from the forests of Allier, Limousin, Nevers, Tronçais, and the Vosges. The best quality is Limousin oak, but it is not suitable for wine aging because of its pores. It is ideal for use in high alcohol drinks such as cognac, whiskey. The most suitable oak for barrels is the old trees in the middle parts of the forests, which reach very high to see the sun because they are planted densely. Oaks are purchased through government tenders. The best quality goes to auction. New oak seedlings are planted in place of the cut down so that the forest is protected.

In France, oak trees remained gifts from Napoleon, who created forests for shipbuilding. Those forests are still under the control of the state. Thousands of euros worth of oak trees are carefully cut by public officials. In order not to damage the wood texture, a hand saw is used instead of an electric saw. French oak is also quite expensive compared to oak species grown in other countries. The value of an old best quality oak tree can reach up to 45 thousand Euros. Factories leave these valuable timbers to nature for 2-3 years before processing. Thus snow, rain, and sun take the bitterness off the board. They are irrigated with a sprinkler system so that they do not dry out too much. Ideal humidity should be at the level of 17-18 percent. The timbers are then dried under natural conditions. In this way, the woody flavors of oak disappear. If it is dried in the oven, the bitterness that passes into the wine occurs.

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