Napa Valley residents are used to seeing wooden wine barrels: in wine caves, stacked outside warehouses and even cut in half and filled with flowers on neighborhood lawns. Barrels are everywhere in ...

For centuries, oak has been the winemaker’s and distiller’s collaborator, quietly transforming clear spirits and young wines into something worth savoring. Here’s how the magic unfolds. Oak barrels ...

Russ Karasch opened a plastic bag filled with strips of wood the color of the best part of a piece of toast. “Smell this,” he said. The aroma was intoxicatingly comforting, like roasting a chocolatey ...