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Our cooperage is committed to offering innovative, high-quality and sustainable oenological products while ensuring that our expertise is passed on.
IT ALL BEGINS WITH WOOD
By its very nature, a cooperage takes a long-term approach. The period between an oak tree beginning to grow in a French forest and the brandy being poured from a carafe can be more than 200 years. In other words, the importance of vision and transmission is well understood in our profession. Humility, experience, transmission: our experts are on hand from the beginning among the trees, alongside the National Forests Office (ONF), to ensure that we pass on a forestry management heritage handed down since the times of Colbert, and that must be preserved.
CARBON AUDIT
SEGUIN MOREAU first calculated the carbon footprint of its activities in 2009. This approach, of which the cooperage was once again a pioneer, demonstrates the importance of sustainability at our company. Having recalculated our footprint in 2022, we are now able to measure our progress and set ambitious goals, such as reducing our CO2 emissions by 11% in absolute terms by 2025. We have also introduced a specific, simple and bold measure: four-hoop barrels. Find out more about our CSR actions in our report.
FIRST PEFC-CERTIFIED COOPERAGE
The Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) advocates sustainable forest development. Joining PEFC guarantees that the product uses a sustainable forest management approach. SEGUIN MOREAU has been aware of the challenges of the wood industry since 2005, and thus obtained PEFC certification and became the first cooperage to offer PEFC-certified products.
MEMBER OF THE UNITED NATIONS GLOBAL COMPACT
The Global Compact is an initiative seeking to promote sustainable development and social responsibility. Member companies share a set of values based on ten universally accepted principles relating to human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. As a visionary force for the importance of what we now call CSR, the cooperage has been actively involved since 2007 and has introduced measures to promote these principles.
BIO AND NOP COMPLIANT ALTERNATIVE RANGES
The certification body ECOCERTanalysed all of SEGUIN MOREAU’s ranges of oenological wood and deemed them compliant for BIO (for CE) and NOP (National Organic Program). Our ranges can therefore be used as part of Organic Agriculture certification.
AN EYE FOR EVERY DETAIL
This is because each step in the process has its own particular precision that enables our pursuit of excellence. From the tree to the product, the manufacturing process is precisely sequenced and undergoes various stages of validation and checking. Research is also an area of excellence for the cooperage, with more than 40 years of collaboration with the ISVV (Institute of Vine and Wine Sciences) in Bordeaux.
TRACEABILITY
From timber to barrel, SEGUIN MOREAU has set up a precise, high-performance traceability system where every input and production parameter is identified and tracked. Each barrel is marked with a unique code, which enables traceability for the results of quality checks and the characteristics of the raw materials used: oak type, grain, thickness, geographical origins and more.
ISO 22 000: 1998
Measures to control food risks, established as part of an HACCP approach, have been supplemented with the introduction of a quality management and food safety system. This system has been deployed across all production sites and has held ISO 22000 certification since 2007.
THE IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCH
With strong encouragement from professors Ribérau-Gayon, Dubourdieu and Boidron, the partnership between SEGUIN MOREAU and Bordeaux’s Faculty of Oenology from the 1980s onwards has opened up new unexplored avenues for understanding interactions between wine and wood. Discoveries from that time enhanced cooperage and winemaking practices, and have promoted effective barrel use all over the world. With its R&D team consisting of three Doctors of Oenology, SEGUIN MOREAU now coordinates various research programmes: internally at the cooperage’s laboratory, and externally with numerous university partners including the Institute of Vine and Wine Sciences (Bordeaux) and the University Institute of Vine and Wine (Dijon). SEGUIN MOREAU also works closely with a panel of partner clients across the globe on applied research programmes within wineries.
PEOPLE AT THE HEART OF THE COOPERAGE
Historically designed to transport drinks by boat, barrels and their uses have evolved over the centuries. They are considered a true oenological tool but have nevertheless retained their ovoid shape. The process of producing them is still very traditional, and the cooper’s skill is the key to the trade and must be passed down for the future.
EPV CERTIFIED
The EPV label (‘Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant’, or ‘Living Heritage Company’) is a State certification system established to highlight artisan or industrial French companies offering rare, exceptional expertise. As a holder of such expertise, SEGUIN MOREAU decided to apply for this label.
WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Vincent DECUP Winemaker - Château Montrose
"ICÔNE is a versatile barrel that truly gives wines a longer life, a barrel with a real personality that can be recognised and repeated from one vintage to the next."
WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Baptiste LOISEAU Cellar Master - Rémy Martin
"There are various words that spring to mind to describe how the Seguin Moreau teams have worked on this large cask project for Rémy Martin: professionalism, precision, innovation, responsiveness and expertise."
FIND OUT MORE
Pioneer since 1838
As a craft cooperage, SEGUIN MOREAU has been innovating boldly since 1838. Such a pioneer spirit cannot be decreed, it must take shape by itself!
As a pioneer with its scientific approach, SEGUIN MOREAU conducts research and innovates to continually improve its understanding of the world of wines and spirits.