Forty-year-old Tamas Dosa is a third-generation cooper and one of the last barrel makers in Hungary. He is keen to keep this centuries-old tradition alive into the next generation.
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00:00There was no question that I would go into a completely different profession,
00:05a car mechanic or a painter or whatever, but it was a basic thing.
00:09I think, since I know my mind, that if I go to school,
00:13I will continue to study there.
00:20This is the workshop of the Hungarian Cooper Tamás Dósza.
00:24It is located in the village of Tapyó Szécső, 50 km east of Budapest.
00:30The cooperage was opened by Tamás's grandfather in the early 1960s.
00:35To this day it is said that the best wine barrels are those that are made by hand.
00:41The process involved is complex and requires a lot of skill.
00:46It begins with choosing the right oak tree,
00:49and the best ones in Hungary grow in the mountains in the north of the country.
00:55The oak tree grows very slowly in the mountains,
00:59and the cutting age of the oak is 120-130 years,
01:03which is why its fiber is very dense and does not allow the stream to pass through.
01:24First he needs five planks from the wood stack.
01:33Before assembly can begin, the wood needs to be sanded.
01:43After that, the wooden staves are assembled and the first hoops put in place.
01:50Now we can start the fire.
02:02This takes about half an hour to 40 minutes,
02:05until the oak reaches its final shape and the wood is cut.
02:10This is a manual production process,
02:13and now the students go to the virtual flowers.
02:20Tamás works with his father.
02:22Wine barrel making has been a tradition in Hungary for centuries.
02:27When Tamás's father and grandfather were young,
02:30entire villages used to make wooden barrels, vessels and buckets.
02:35Today, hardly anyone in his generation does this kind of work,
02:39and the skill is no longer taught in vocational schools.
02:55In a similar age, maybe two or three more.
03:00Before the wine barrel is finished, the hoops need to be tightened one last time.
03:09Tamás hopes that his son will carry on this profession,
03:13keeping the craft of coopering alive in Hungary.
03:16These barrels will be in use for up to 60 years.
03:19Now all that's missing is a good rope.
03:22Tamás's father is a wine producer,
03:24and his son is a winemaker.
03:26Tamás's father is a winemaker,
03:28and his son is a winemaker.
03:30Tamás's father is a winemaker,
03:32and his son is a winemaker.
03:34Tamás's father is a winemaker,
03:36and his son is a winemaker.
03:38Tamás's father is a winemaker,
03:40and his son is a winemaker.
03:42Tamás's father is a winemaker,
03:44and his son is a winemaker.
03:46Tamás's father is a winemaker,
03:48and his son is a winemaker.