This was also the case with the inquiry from Nico Schenk from Maikammer, which reached us at the beginning of the year.

It was about the restoration of two carved oak casks, which have been at home in the winery for generations.

In a detailed email, he told us about the very old (the carving says 1850!) wine barrels in his cellar, to which strong memories are attached. However, Mr. Schenk did not want to refill the barrels with wine, but rather to make their unusual appearance accessible to the public – something he can do because he will be home to the local tourism office for the next three years.

So after Mr. Schenk sent us a few pictures of the two 600 l casks, it quickly became clear that our barrel professionals were in demand here.

Unfortunately, the barrels have suffered massive dry damage over the decades of being empty. The hoops were already “slipping mightily,” as the customer reported. So we decided to cellar out the two beautiful pieces ourselves in Maikammer to avoid further damage.

Throughout the communication, you can tell that Mr. Schenk has a strong emotional connection with the barrels. Among other things, he associates them with memories of his late father, whose name is immortalized on the restored barrels.

All our craftsmanship is on display when our coopers take the two barrels apart, clean them, grind them, put them back together and give them new hoops. If the 170-year-old carvings had not been preserved, the barrels would hardly have been recognized.

During the restoration of the two large barrels, our coopers are constantly accompanied by my colleague Saskia with her camera. This allows us to show the customer intermediate steps every now and then. It also shows him that we respect and value his memories.

We think the effort was worth it. The barrels are now open to the public in the tourist office of the village of Maikammer. It is nice to know that thanks to us a piece of Palatinate history can live on.

See you,