The last cooper | Jean-Francois Bazin

In the Hautes-Côtes de Beaune, March 1971. At the Cruchaudet family, the trade of cooper has been passed down from father to son for several generations. Just as Bénigne decides to enroll in the viticultural high school of Beaune to obtain his CAP, the news breaks: the cooper's CAP is being eliminated! The decision was made in Paris, where it is believed that the future lies in concrete or stainless steel containers and that the oak barrel is condemned. Outraged by this whim of technocrats, Bénigne then leads his cooper friends in a long crusade. From vineyard to vineyard, from Burgundy to Bordeaux, from Alsace to the Loire Valley passing through Germany and all the way to California, he will stop at nothing to uphold this truth: only good wines come from the marriage of oak and grape.