A cooper maintains the temperature of barrels during the toasting process in the workshop of the Tonnellerie Baron, a French cooperage founded in 1875 and maintaining the historic craft of coopering, near the town of Saintes, southwestern France, on March 20, 2024. To make the barrels at the end of the drying phase staves are further transformed to be assembled before being toasted, the duration and temperature of which are calibrated to meet the requirements of wine and spirits maturation. (Photo by Philippe LOPEZ / AFP)