Santing Beer and Spirit Barrels is a partner of Giraud-Galiana. We have been working together for years to find the best products for your project. We would like to introduce you to Giraud-Galiana:
NAO, founded in 2001, is an independent family cooperage near Cognac, in the heart of Grande Champagne, the premier cru of cognac.
The company’s original goal was to offer a range of high-quality used oak barrels and vats, but NAO has evolved into a producer and supplier of an extensive range of high-quality ageing solutions for wineries, distilleries and breweries around the world. This combines family heritage with innovation.
In 2019, we looked back at our past and the work of Joseph Galiana, a respected and skilled cooper and great-grandfather of Gontran Beaudoin (our CEO), to rebrand our range of handmade barrels as “Giraud-Galiana”.
With a fully equipped cooperage, a laboratory and a solid network of partners, NAO creates and supplies new wood barrels, used barrels (barrels and vats of various sizes and origins), oak alternatives, tannins and liquid oak extracts.
Our team of young, creative professionals with diverse technical backgrounds has a wealth of knowledge and experience in oak barrel making.
Thanks to our experience and vitality, NAO is in an excellent position to help each of its customers find the most suitable ageing solution and create consistent, top-quality products.
Although we understand that the use of wood for ageing wine, spirits and beer is a craft of the past, we strongly believe that it is also a craft for the future. We are driven by passion and dedication to create this future.
NAO handmade barrels are crafted according to the finest Cognac barrel-making tradition. First, we carefully select top-quality wood from exclusive forests of known origin and provenance. Our wood is naturally dried in the open air in the microclimate of Poitou-Charentes, with its 2,400 hours of sunshine per year. This region benefits from just the right amount of rainfall (equivalent to 850 mm per year) and mild temperatures during the winter months, combined with long hours of sunshine and pleasantly warm summers (perfect conditions for maturing wood).
Our careful control of the natural maturing process of the wood allows us to adjust its character to achieve the exact traditional Giraud-Galiana profile we strive for. We have established demanding quality standards for all key operations in the manufacture of our barrels: wood selection, toasting & charring (with infrared control), pressure testing, finishing/inspection and packaging. Only after all these strict controls have been carried out are our barrels allowed to bear the Giraud-Galiana brand as a guarantee of our tradition and quality.
