There's magic at the stave mill: The Ramoneda Brothers

Shelley Sackier, Director of Distillery Education at Reservoir Distillery in Richmond, VA shares a wonderful piece on The Culpeper, Virginia Ramoneda Brothers oak barrel stave mill. The mill produces white oak barrel staves and accompanying products for the whiskey and wine cooperage industry. Originally published on Moonshine University.com

“You can see the piece within the piece.”

I know that might sound a tad cryptic, but this was a phrase uttered nearly simultaneously by both Vic Ramoneda and his employee, Bill DiSantis, as we all bent over a freshly cut plank of wood in the Ramoneda Brothers Stave Mill in Culpeper, Virginia.

“Do you mean like Michelangelo and the whole, ‘The sculpture is already complete—it’s there in that block of marble’ kind of thing?” I asked them both.

I laughed. They nodded politely at the joke. And then agreed, “Exactly.”

As Director of Distillery Education for Reservoir Distillery, I was neck-deep in wood science research, and this was my first on-site introduction to one of the most instrumental parts of our spirit making process--barrels. Without their participation and interaction, we have nothing but distillate to bottle; and although I think the gin-clear liquid that trickles from our copper pot’s parrot spout is remarkable in its flavors and aromas, it is not our final goal.

For the rest of the story: https://moonshineuniversity.com/the-ramoneda-brothers-stave-mill/