But New Zealand grown oak is a rarity. While we’ve since moved to concrete and then stainless steel for storage, in the early 1950s winemakers like Josip Babich turned to the native totara tree as a local alternative for storage barrels. This totara stave is from a 4500-litre barrel that was carefully dismantled and numbered so it could be easily reassembled, should we need it again.
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