This was a surprise 40th birthday wine barrel cake. I did ask for some advice on this cake in the forums so for those interested:

-This cake was for 110-120 servings (after carving) -There are four 4" tiers inside the cake for a total height of 16". Each cake was 10" and torted. -Tiers were supported by SPS system (9",10",9" to account for some carving on the bottom and top tiers). This is the only reason I was able to drive this cake from NY to NC, 9 hours, without it failing. -I used wood grain texture mat, made small impressions with a ball tool to add more realism to wood then hand painted with dark brown gel color. Diluted some brown in vodka to apply color to wood and added concentrated color inside small impressions - Wood fondant pieces were applied in two pieces, meeting at the center. Seam was hidden by the center silver metal band. This is the only way I could properly control applying to this size cake and have it taper properly on the top and bottom. - Green and red fondant grapes were made using the tutorials on cake central. - Spigot was fabricated from gumpaste a few days earlier and airbrushed in gold and then highlighted in gold dust (dry)