Why Oak?

Let’s talk biology. When we discuss wine, we focus almost exclusively on the grape vine, Vitis vinifera, in its many varieties. But there are two other organisms crucial to wine production that are often forgotten about. The first is the yeast, Saccharomyces; without which our favourite tipple would just be grape juice. The second – and the subject of this piece – is the oak tree, Quercus.

An odd choice, you might think. However, oak’s accidental association with wine has been a critical one. The majority of premium red wines are dependent on oak barrels for a vital component of their flavour, as are a good number of whites.

The reason oak barrels were initially chosen for storing wine in had nothing to do with the flavouring effects they have: it’s simply that in the past, barrels were used as all-purpose containers, and oak is a tight-grained wood capable of making leak-proof barrels ideal for storing liquids in. The shape of the barrel makes it extremely strong and once on its side it can be moved by rolling, even when full.

The barrel-manufacturing process involves heating the staves (the oak slats that make up a barrel) over a brazier so that they can be bent into shape. Somewhat fortuitously, this slight charring – referred to as ‘toasting’ – coupled with the chemical properties of the wood, means that the interaction of the wine with the inside of a new barrel imparts pronounced flavour characteristics to the wine. When used appropriately, new barrels can have a significant beneficial impact on the wine that is aged in them.

Another equally important, but less talked about, effect of ageing wine in barrels is that this allows a very slight and controlled exposure to oxygen. Normally, winemakers do all they can to avoid exposing their wines to air, but in this case the low-level oxidation that barrels permit is beneficial to the structure and character of the wine.

So how does oak affect the flavour of the finished wine? For red wines, barrels often add a little spice, enhance the structure, and may add some sweet vanillin characters. A white wine that has been fermented and aged in barrels will often have a noticeable nutty, buttery character along with the spice and vanilla characteristics that reds often pick up. Barrel aged wines are generally a little more complex and have a more interesting texture than those aged in tank, although some white grape varieties, such as Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc rarely benefit from being oaked, often sacrificing the vitality and freshness that is intrinsic to these aromatic grapes.

A key difference in the effect of oak barrels is whether they are composed of French or American oak. If you ever get a chance to try side-by-side cask samples of the same wine aged in French and American oak, take it: the differences are significant. The relatively wide-grained American oak imparts a much stronger flavour, with more obvious sweet coconut flavours and spicy notes. French oak has a more subtle, slightly more savoury vanillin effect. Imagine the two oak influences to be like differing vanilla ice creams - American oak is a big, buttery creamy yellow ice cream, whereas the French oak is whiter, softer, finer and milkier

Both have their fans, with a concerted push in recent years towards French oak in an attempt to reign in overt new oak influences. Ultimately, producers have to decide which oak characters suits their wine better, although cost can be a factor here. French barrels are much more expensive than American ones. The degree of ‘toast’ and even the manufacturer of the barrel are also important factors in the effect barrels have on the wine.

A crucial variable here is the age of the barrel. New barrels impart the most flavour, and this effect is subsequently diminished with each re-use of the barrel, so that third-use barrels don’t add much flavour at all. Many producers juggle their barrels carefully, ageing their wine in a mix of new and used barrels to avoid over-oaking it. Great care must be taken with the use of older barrels, since they can harbour bacteria and yeasts that might contaminate the wine.

Because new barrels are expensive, their use is usually reserved for premium wines. But winemakers are only human: they want the beneficial effects of oak for their cheaper wines as well, without the high cost. As a result, barrel substitutes have become increasingly popular. These can range from small oak chips in teabag-like nets to barrel staves bolted into the inside of the tank. Results can be variable, and are generally not as good as those achieved by barrels. If you see the words ‘oaked’ on the label of an inexpensive wine without mention of barrels, the chances are one of these alternative techniques has been used.

A hi-tech twist on this theme is a technique called micro-oxygenation. This process aims to simulate the gradual, low-level exposure to oxygen that occurs in barrel. A specialized device is set up inside the tank that releases a slow stream of tiny oxygen bubbles in a controlled manner. The exact scientific basis isn’t clear, but it’s a technique that’s becoming widely adopted. Converts claim that it enhances the structure, stabilizes the colour, and removes unwanted vegetal notes from red wines treated in this fashion. Increasingly, micro-oxygenation is being used in tandem with oak chips in a sophisticated emulation of the process of barrel ageing, but at a much-reduced cost. However, this is a technique still in its infancy, and it’s hard to gauge its likely take-up with winemakers currently using the real thing. Whatever happens, it looks likely that the historical association between wine and oak is likely to be an enduring one. (www.wineanorak.com)

Vintages - do they really matter?

Underneath it all, wine is just fermented grape juice. Once you put aside all the romantic notions of wine as a living, changing being, then all you are left with is an agricultural product – a product that is made in the vineyard, from the berries of a plant.

As any farmer will tell you, nature is entirely unpredictable; with one year producing scorching heat and droughts, the next hail and frost. This process is translated directly into the taste of our wines, with the searing heat perhaps producing ripe and full bodied wines, followed by a year of absolutely nothing (thanks to a devastating late afternoon hail storm). The flow on effect comes in the form of a year printed on every label, signifying the date when the grapes where picked and first turned into wine. The challenge with wine is thus that no two ‘vintages’ are ever the same, each year producing a wine that tastes totally unique (and may often taste completely different every year!).

To a marketing department, this is a major inconvenience: they would like wine to resemble other drinks, such as beer, vodka or scotch, where the agricultural product is just a rather anonymous starting point in the manufacturing process. For branded wines, the variation between vintages is a major hassle, affecting supply & consistency of style, flavour and character. To the wine nut, vintages are instead a source of variation that adds a delightful complexity to the passion of wine appreciation: after all, with each new vintage, everything is shaken up again, and there is yet more to learn.

It can all get a bit bewildering after a while as there are already enough elements of wine appreciation to get your head around - regions, grape varieties, producers…and now we have vintage variation as well. It’s tempting to just buy a few wine books and pull out the vintage chart – a list of regions, each given a quality score for wine in a certain year- and fully embrace this generalised chart as gospel.

While this works for a general overview, the truth is that vintage charts are purely a subjective opinion, ignoring the fact that wine can taste completely different when produced from different sides of the vineyard, let alone from many producers in a region over a year!

The truth is that there is much more to wine than just ‘good’ and ‘bad’ vintages, with the best wine producers able to produce great wine regardless of the vintage, with some of the ‘off’ vintages presenting themselves as better value and much more interesting in the long run.

So what makes a good vintage? Simply put, the best vintages are those that have the best weather to grow grapes. This translates to the years that have the perfect balance between rain, sunshine & temperature - the years that grow the healthiest, tastiest & most perfect grapes.

The other element to consider is that vintage variations, like temperature variations, are often much less pronounced in warmer regions – thus for regions like the Barossa Valley, Mclaren Vale or Griffith, vintage variations are much less important, because there is much more consistency from year to year in temperature, rainfall and sunshine, ultimately leading to wine that is less subject to massive vintage variations. Conversely, it is the cooler, wetter regions that suffer from the greatest vintage variation – with the cool Southern regions of Tasmania, the heights of Tumbarumba, or the wet areas of Mudgee and much of the Lower Hunter Valley quite significantly affected by changes in the weather.

Vintage variation goes much deeper than just weather though – with pests, soil and even humans able to drastically alter the changing taste of finished wines, as wine shows every nuance it is subject to, just like a blank canvas.

In the world of modern, branded product (particularly in Australia) winemakers are able to blend parcels of fruit from many different regions & effectively remove vintage inconsistency – but in the process essentially stripping all the regional & varietal character out of a wine at the same time.

The best answer to the vintage question is the same lexicon that all wine drinkers should live by- the best wine is the wine you like. Ultimately, unless you are stocking a cellar with the intention of maturing wines for decades, vintage recommendations should be an afterthought. Instead, find yourself a consistently great winery and stick to it- different vintages just make life more interesting.

Blind Wine Tasting? Take the Pepsi Challenge!

No, we aren’t talking about some sort of bizarre drinking game for people with disabilities, but Blind Wine Tasting can be an excellent way to get seriously good value wines.

Blind Wine Tasting is essentially when a wine is presented without the taster knowing what it is. Whether you use a brown bag, bottle covers or an old sock, the main objective of blind tasting is to allow you to try wines without being influenced by what’s on the label, unbiased by the wines reputation, vintage or even the variety.A far more challenging (and intimidating) extension of this is the wine options game – where a group of suitably foolhardy individuals gather around with a clutch of mysteriously obscured bottles and attempt to guess the vintage, variety, region and maker of the masked bottles. This can often be a hilarious game, as it is simply too easy for even the most seasoned, knowledgeable taster can get things very, very wrong.
To add a further dimension, try blind tasting with your eyes shut – Cabernet Sauvignon has a reputation for smelling exactly like Sauvignon Blanc with the lights turned out!

The clear advantage of blind wine tasting though is that it is a great leveller – it is amazing how often when presented with a lineup of masked wines, the $15 bottles end up just as popular as the $30 bottles. This can be used to your wine buying advantage, as you may discover wines that you thought were too expensive/cheap & happily discover great wines.

Pepsi wheeled out a blind tasting road show several years ago, attempting to emphasise how much better their product tasted than its Coca Cola competitor, showing that once you take away all the perceptions associated with packaging & the inherent marketing spiel, its ultimately ‘let(ting) your taste decide’.

But don’t just take our word for it, organise you own blind tasting party! Gather together a likeminded bunch of wine drinkers and tell everyone to bring a bottle of wine (Choose either reds or whites). Stick all the wines into identical bottle bags or socks (No peeking) and randomly mix them up. Then taste away!


Look for:
1.Colour- Is it bright or dull? Does the colour go all the way to the tip? This can indicate the wine age, with the colour on more youthful wines going all the way to the rim. . Note any major differences between the wines, particularly in whites.

2. Aroma- Are the smells pungent or restrained? Write down any obvious smells and particularly note anything that smells ‘un-wine like’ as these are usually dead giveaways to wine faults (Which will ruin any of your attempts to guess the wines identity).

3. Taste- Don’t drink too much too quickly! It’s a tasting after all, so only pour yourself small drinks until the unveiling – then you can decide what you really want to drink. Look for more than just fruit flavours: note if the wine is dry, sweet or rich. If it’s a red, look out for tannins (the drying effect on the back of your tongue) and any other sensations in your mouth.

And finally:

4.Guess what your tasting- If you get it wrong, don’t worry, everyone does! It’s more fun to connect the dots and work out why certain wines taste and smell like they do. If you are only very new to wine tasting, try to guess only the price- It is easily the most surprising factor, and if you find a wine you like and it turns out to be a bargain, then the whole exercise is worth it!
The best advice? Try absolutely every wine you can, regardless of the price, and this will lead you to find the wines you really want to drink.