The innovation of barrels fitted with porcelain stoneware bases: what are the challenges for champagne production?
As part of the 4th Sparkling Wine Forum, held in Reims on 19 May 2026, Sébastien le Golvet, Cellar Master at Champagne Henri Giraud, took to the stage to present the results of his research. He has developed and brought to market champagne barrels made from wood and porcelain stoneware, thanks to a key collaboration with the Tonnellerie de Champagne.
Sébastien Le Golvet is Managing Director and Cellar Master at Champagne Henri Giraud. He was trained by Claude Giraud, who taught him the philosophy of wine, and by George Hardy of the Champagne Oenological Station, who taught him the technical aspects of winemaking. Passionate about wine, Sébastien Le Golvet has overseen numerous projects, including the renovation of the house’s cellars.
The return to oak barrels
Since 2016, Champagne Henri Giraud has stopped vinifying in stainless steel vats and now uses exclusively oak barrels from the Argonne Forest. Claude Giraud was the first to take an interest in the Argonne Forest, located 70 kilometres east of Aÿ-Champagne. The distinctive feature of this forest is that its soil consists of gaize, which results in slow oak growth and promotes a dense grain in the wood. The denser and tighter the grain, the fewer tannins are released – tannins that are essential to the wine’s texture and structure. Furthermore, the Argonne Forest offers a variety of terroirs, each of which has an impact and leaves its own signature on the wines. “For example, if I work with the Châtrices forest, it will produce wines that are very taut and very acidic. If I work with the Pontfourie forest, we’ll accentuate the fruitiness, much like Chardonnay. Relisse is a much more understated forest. In Valmy, we’ll bring a velvety quality to the wines.” Whilst working with the forest terroirs, Sébastien le Golvet also developed an interest in cooperage and began to experiment with toasting in different oak barrels.
Henri Giraud Champagne is reviving a technique used by the region’s cooperages in the 1950s by introducing full traceability for the wood used in its barrels. The house even marks the logs required for barrel-making in the forest itself, geolocating the oak trees to be used in the process. The Argonne forest had been abandoned by winegrowers in favour of vats, so Henri Giraud Champagne is currently the only producer to utilise the terroir of this forest to create wines with notes that are unique in the world. “The closer I am to the ground, the more I will capture the signature of the terroir. And if I’m in the upper part of the oak, I’ll capture the terroir’s character, but with far greater elegance.”
Henri Giraud, in partnership with Tonnellerie de Champagne
Thanks to this work on traceability, Sébastien le Golvet became interested in the toasting of barrels and has filed several patent applications in this field. He explains that “while toasting the barrels, I realised that tannins are cooked in much the same way as a dish. The tannins in raw oak are like poison, but once they are heated, they become excellent nutrients.”
To carry out these toasting experiments, Sébastien Le Golvet teamed up with Tonnellerie de Champagne. Together, they identified a 250-year-old oak tree in the Châtrices forest to craft three barrels from its wood. The aim was to ensure complete traceability of the wood used. Following the selection of this oak, they decided to carry out three toasting processes, each with a lid on the barrel. The first toasting process follows the traditional method used by the Tonnellerie de Champagne: toasting at 100 degrees for one hour.
The second heating method used is the one patented by Henri Giraud. This involves indirect heating, with a chimney inside the barrel to allow the fumes to escape. However, shortly before the end of the heating process, the chimney was deliberately blocked. Finally, for the third heating, they decided to leave the chimney open to allow as much of the smoke in the cask as possible to escape. Each of the casks was heated for the same duration of one hour and at the same temperature of approximately 110 degrees. The results of these heating processes highlight a change in the wines’ aromatic profile depending on the heating method.
The caramel aroma produced during the second roasting stage caught the attention of Sébastien Le Golvet, who wanted to preserve this hard-to-achieve flavour. However, as it was not possible to reproduce this aroma using simple wooden roasters, he turned to ceramic ones after much experimentation.
Using the traditional toasting method of the Champagne cooperage, aromas of fresh butter and spices will develop. By using Henri Giraud’s patented method and blocking the vent before the end of the toasting process, a caramel aroma develops – something that is rare if the vent is left uncovered. The third open-flue toasting will allow for the development of more woody and spicy aromas.
Reducing wine deterioration by using different types of casks
Since 2015, Sébastien le Golvet has been experimenting with ageing techniques in modified barrels. In 2015, Sébastien le Golvet began working with concrete eggs from Nomblot; however, as concrete is not a completely neutral material, there is a loss of acidity in the wine and an exchange of substances between the wine and the material. Following this, he continued his experiments with terracotta eggs. “I thought to myself, terracotta eggs are great because they’re natural. So, I took advantage of the egg shape to resuspend the lees. But it didn’t work at all; just because you’re working with a natural product, like terracotta, doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily produce good wine. ” According to Sébastien le Golvet, terracotta releases aluminium silicates and iron oxide, which cause significant abnormalities in the wines, as revealed by molecular analyses.
By 2018, Sébastien le Golvet was still using eggs, but this time made of stoneware, which allowed the firing temperature to be raised to 1,200 degrees. Stoneware is also a completely inert material. “The shape of the egg combined with the ceramic material suited me. And that’s when I had the idea, whilst I was firing my pieces, to use stoneware bases for my barrels, as I was having issues with the wines developing off-flavours. ” The process involved making a plaster mould, then creating a stoneware slip and firing it in the kiln. This technique is similar to that used to make washbasins, which creates micro-air bubbles in the stoneware.
Unfortunately, during the initial tests, 5 out of 25 barrels cracked because wood and stoneware are incompatible materials: wood is a living material, whereas stoneware is inert. After reviewing the results of this first technique, Sébastien le Golvet developed a second, completely different technique. This technique involves using ceramic stoneware in the form of powder compressed to 1,800 tonnes, which removes all imperfections from the ceramic. The temperature is then raised to 1,200 degrees; using this technique, there were no breakages during heating.
Unfortunately, during the initial tests, 5 out of 25 barrels cracked because wood and stoneware are incompatible materials: wood is a living material, whereas stoneware is inert. After reviewing the results of this first technique, Sébastien le Golvet developed a second, completely different technique. This technique involves using ceramic stoneware in the form of powder compressed to 1,800 tonnes, which removes all imperfections from the ceramic. The temperature is then raised to 1,200 degrees; using this technique, there were no breakages during heating.
Sébastien le Golvet explains, “While chatting with a friend who works for the GIGN, he told me that they use multi-layered ceramic to make bulletproof vests, which makes them extremely durable. That gave me the idea of making the ceramic bases using multiple layers. ’ By alternating between a layer of ceramic, a layer of steel, a plastic pocket and another layer of ceramic, he achieves a much more robust result, allowing the heating temperature to be raised by a further 130 degrees. Furthermore, this method preserves the integrity of the wine. According to Sébastien le Golvet, “The main idea was to have a product that guarantees the integrity of the wine inside a bulk container. And the advantage of this steel sheet is that you can heat it simultaneously by induction and regulate the temperature.”
The revolution in wooden barrels and porcelain stoneware
Following the development of this technique, Champagne Henri Giraud began working with the CIVC – Comité Champagne. As a member of the association of cellar masters, Sébastien le Golvet organised a visit during which he offered a tasting of wines aged in oak barrels and those with ceramic liners. “Everyone could clearly taste a real difference between the ceramic and the wood.” A blind tasting was then organised with the Comité Champagne and the cellar masters, which confirmed these differences in sensory perception depending on the barrels used. Greater tension and freshness were observed in the barrels fitted with ceramic bases. “For 25 years, we have been working with the various plots in the Argonne Forest. And we realise that each plot does indeed have an impact on the wine. The tasters were able to identify the different wine families from different plots and whether or not the ceramic base had come into play. ”
The ceramic base does indeed have an impact on the wine at tasting, as the tasters noted greater tension, finesse and elegance. Following these results, the Comité Champagne – CIVC carried out physico-chemical tests comparing wines produced in barrels with ceramic bases and wooden bases. No difference in the wine’s parameters was observed; this is positive news as it demonstrates that the wine’s pH is not altered.
Wines that are unique in the world
This year at the Wine Paris fair, Champagne Henri Giraud presented a prototype wine called BE 10.8, with ‘BE’ standing for ‘Bien-Être’ (well-being), as the house also works in partnership with wellness centres. This year, Champagne Henri Giraud was awarded the ‘Best Signature Choice’ by Spa de France. “This BE 10.8 cuvée represents the vision of Champagne in 25 years’ time; today’s younger generations want wines with lower alcohol content, finer and more elegant.” And the use of ceramic allows us to meet these expectations: “The advantage of ceramic is that we can harvest the grapes when they are slightly less ripe in terms of phenolic maturity. When you taste the wine, you get this sensation of sweetness and tension. So, at the same time, it also allows us to harvest the grapes a little earlier and produce wines that are fresher and more delicate.”
Henri Giraud Champagne wines are therefore unique in the world, and the company has registered a patent for barrels with ceramic bases; however, the use of different terroirs in the Argonne Forest makes their wines even more unique. “We have contracts with various coopers. They are permitted to work with different clients for a year to sell these barrels with ceramic bases. We’re getting some really lovely feedback at the moment, and it’s very positive.”
Sébastien le Golvet has worked with figures such as François-Xavier Demaison, a comedian and producer of high-alcohol wines from the Pyrénées-Orientales. By introducing wooden barrels with ceramic bases for these wines, they become much more delicate and refined. “Their winemaker is Dominique Laporte, who was the French sommelier champion. He sent me a note saying that, nowadays, he can no longer do without barrels with ceramic bases because of the freshness they bring to the wines. It is true that their wines have really gained in fruitiness and elegance.”
The desire to take part in the Sparkling Wine Forum
By taking part in the 4th Sparkling Wine Forum, Sébastien le Golvet wanted to bring a modern twist to the barrel that has been used in the industry for 2,000 years. He explains that he wanted to share this much more modern vision. And at the same time, to explain to people that, whilst climate change is often discussed with winegrowers these days, there aren’t many solutions available, apart from changing grape varieties.
‘Generally speaking, there aren’t many alternative methods. But with barrels fitted with ceramic bases, this is a straightforward alternative method. In other words, you don’t have to grub up your vineyard. The vineyard you have works very, very well. We can harvest the grapes when they’re slightly under-ripe. And by harvesting them under-ripe, we’ll end up with wines that are perhaps slightly less mature. But if we get the barrel’s heat right with ceramic bases, we could well revolutionise the image of tomorrow’s wines a little. For me, it was important to explain that.”
This year, Champagne Henri Giraud won the Innovation Award at the Italian SIMEI trade fair thanks to its research into ceramic barrels. The company aims to help winemakers reach the customers of tomorrow through new, modern methods.