April 30, 2025 — In 2025 Tonnellerie Demptos is celebrating its bicentenary. Two centuries of cooperage excellence serving the world’s greatest vineyards, and an opportunity to pay tribute to the richness of this heritage, which is based on ancestral skills handed down through the generations, an unshakeable faith in the future and a resolute openness to the world.
To retrace its history, La Tonnellerie called on historian and entrepreneur Nicolas Bolchakoff. National archives, Bordeaux archives, private collections, testimonies from former coopers and employees – his months of detailed research and investigation have resulted in a book entitled “La saison éternelle” (The eternal season), which is the highlight of this anniversary year.
Through its pages, this book, evokes the Great 200 Year History, founded in 1825 in Saint-Caprais de-Bordeaux, its historic site which remains its current headquarters. It was here, in a modest village workshop, that the cooperage’s very first barrels were produced.
The book explores the passing years, opening the door onto fragments of life. It tells the story of successive generations, of trials and tribulations, of progress and of changing times. From its birthplace in Saint-Caprais, our coopers’ expertise spread from Cambes to Saint-Émilion, before travelling to the four corners of the world.
“The eternal season” tells the story of this wonderful adventure. This bicentenary marks a special moment: an opportunity to take stock of how far we’ve come and to look forward to the future, with tradition and modernity, serving wines and spirits from all over the world.
