History
French White Oak is mostly in France, Germany, and Austria. Here, during the ice age, the number of varieties of oaks were greatly reduced as they could not migrate over the Alps into warmer climates due to the east-west orientation of the mountain range.
In contrast, there are more than 100 subspecies of Oak in North America where all the mountain ranges are north-south oriented.
French Oak has the highest consistent tannin content, resulting in more uniform color shades. French Oak is grown in forests that have been a model for sustainable hardwood management for the last 300 years. The trees are harvested after 100+ years, when they are fully mature. The harvesting is done by select, unobtrusive cutting.
