In the California wine country alone, nearly 200,000 barrels are retired every year. While most do not think about the wood that once served to perfectly age their glass of Pinot, these barrels typically end up as planters, firewood, or even worse, waste in our landfills.
Savante Wine Cellars, custom woodcraftsmen and innovative cellar designers, have developed a one-of-a-kind, earth-friendly method of bringing new life to wine barrels. Savante’s Stave Oak Collection is handcrafted with reclaimed barrels from the client’s vineyard of choice and is made with no chemical finishes. The result is a visually stunning cellar that is as safe and protective to the wine collection as it is to the environment.
The company designs each cellar to enhance the beauty of the selected barrels—from using the vineyard’s distinctive cooperage stamps as drawer faces or flooring marks, to the plant based dyes and natural wine stains used to create unique color and tints in the wood itself.
Savante founder Darryl Hogeback and his team is passionate about using every part of the barrel to build the most sustainable, and striking custom cellars possible. “Growing up, I always had an affinity for the forest and the life we draw from the trees. We oftentimes take our environment for granted, and being able to bring a new purpose to the beautiful oak trees that create the country’s finest wines is an incredible way to construct a cellar. Whether we are using the barrel staves for the racking system or the heads to create eco-friendly cellar flooring, Savante is dedicated to recycling every part of the barrels we reclaim,” Hogeback says.