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Barrel fermenting and barrel aging change the final product of a wine
distinctly. Oak imparts body, flavor and tannin that can often make a
wine great; on the other hand, oak has the ability to make a good wine
terrible, too.
Barrel fermenting and barrel aging change the final product of a wine distinctly. Oak imparts body, flavor and tannin that can often make a wine great; on the other hand, oak has the ability to make a good wine terrible, too.
Wood is a fickle friend to wine. When utilized well it helps immensely, and when used poorly it hinders.
Barrel aging is used for both red and white wines, although much more prominently for reds. Just about every Wood is a fickle friend to wine. When utilized well it helps immensely, and when used poorly it hinders.
Barrel aging is used for both red and white wines, although much more prominently for reds. Just about every red wine you’ve ever tasted has spent some time in an oak barrel. A year to two years is typical for California reds. However, other regions, Spain and Italy for example, may oak their reds for four years or more.
Barrel aging imparts a variety of different flavors into red wine and gives it complexity and structure. Tannin is the most important of its contributions.
Tannin helps wine to age and often requires time in the bottle to “soften.” When a red wine, a Napa Cabernet Sauvignon for example, is over-oaked, it can taste like you are drinking a 2-by-4. When a red wine has too much oak, it will overpower the fruit and make the wine unpleasant to most palates.
In the realm of white wines Chardonnay is the grape most famous for its oak treatment. When used properly, oak can significantly enhance a Chardonnay by adding structure as well as vanilla notes. Oak might also be a Chardonnay’s demise — too much will ultimately create a flabby and disagreeable wine.
The more a barrel is used for aging, the less oak characteristics it will impart on the wine. Thus, a new oak barrel will infuse more flavor and structure than a 3-year-old barrel.
A common technique that winemakers use is to age some of their wine in used oak and some in new oak. This makes it so they can blend their wine closer to perfection later.
Another technique is to use an old oak barrel to soften a wine slightly. Byington uses this technique with their “Alliage,” a blend of sauvignon blanc and viognier. They put the blend in old oak barrels for just a few months to take some of the acidic edge off and make it smoother. A barrel used for this softening technique might have already seen five years of use or more.
Most of our local Santa Cruz wineries use French oak for their pinot noirs, because the tannins it passes on are lighter than American oak. French oak can be quite expensive; some artisan barrels often cost as much as $1,000. These high prices are worth it, though, if a winemaker is truly serious about a pinot.
Cheers!
Austin Twohig, who alternates writing this column with Annette Hunt, is a certified sommelier and operates The Santa Cruz Experience wine tour company. He can be contacted at
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