To oak or not to oak

The importance of the oak barrel

wine,Good Housekeeping,kitchen wisdom Wine oak barrels

by Richard Ehrlich
Much of the world\'s wine - including some of the best and most expensive - contains an added ingredient which makes a tremendous contribution to its flavour. Sometimes too tremendous. The added ingredient is oak. And it is one of the most important considerations for wine drinkers deciding what to buy.

 

Over a barrel
The standard method of exposing wine to oak is to keep it, during and after fermentation, in oak barrels. The oak almost always comes from the USA or France; most winemakers prefer French oak\'s finer and subtler flavour. French oak also costs much more: a 225-litre "barrique" (the classic barrel used in top wines) can cost as much as £500. That can add as much as £1-2 to the price of a bottle.

 

Oak time

wine,Good Housekeeping,kitchen wisdom Oak lumber Wines can spend just a few months in oak barrels or up to two years or more. Obviously, the longer they spend there, the more they will pick up flavours from the wood. But it isn’t just time that increases flavour, it’s also the percentage of “new oak.” While a barrel can be used many times, much of the flavour is gone by the time it reaches its third year of use.

Tasting the oak

wine,Good Housekeeping,kitchen wisdom Vanilla pods Oak imparts a variety of flavours to wine, as well as a small quantity of tannin (which acts as a preservative and makes the wine feel sharper in the mouth). The typical flavours are vanilla, coconut, toasty or smoky notes, and often a sensation of sweetness from sugars in the wood.

To oak or not to oak

wine,Good Housekeeping,kitchen wisdom Riesling grapes Does oak make wine better?

Not necessarily. Whites in particular have to be oaked with care, and some grape varieties are not right for it at all. Riesling, considered the world’s greatest white grape variety by some wine lovers, is killed by oak. Wines with the greatest complexity and highest quality will potentially benefit most from oak ageing. The top range of big, rich red wines are almost invariably given some time in oak. So are superior white Burgundy and the best sweet white wines of Bordeaux. Wood mingles with their already sumptuous flavours to create an effect that’s far greater than the sum of its parts.

When oak goes pear-shaped

wine,Good Housekeeping,kitchen wisdom Oak stump Oak must be used in moderation or the oak will dominate the fruit; it should be a seasoning, not a main ingredient. Australian winemakers especially have been guilty of applying too much oak, producing some wines that tasted more of wood than of grapes. They’re now realising their mistake, and cutting back on barrel-ageing. Sometimes winemakers use oak to mask poor concentration of fruit. Their efforts make the wine more expensive, not make it more enjoyable to drink.

Faux-oak

wine,Good Housekeeping,kitchen wisdom Oak chips Wine drinkers all over the world have grown accustomed to the sweetening effects of oak in their wine. But when they don’t want to pay more for oak, some winemakers use it in cheaper forms. Oak chips, suspended in the wine while it’s sitting in stainless steel vats, are the most common alternative to proper barrels. The practice is legal in the New World, though not in France. While it does give some of the oaky quality at a lower price, the oak rarely marries well with the other flavours in the wine.

Oak-spotting

wine,Good Housekeeping,kitchen wisdom Bottle of wine How do you know if a wine is oaked or unoaked? Occasionally the wine\'s name will tell you, as in the case of two good examples from the Antipodes: Peter Lehmann Unoaked Chardonnay 2006 (£4.99, Co-Op) from Australia and Montana Unoaked Chardonnay 2006 (£5-6, Waitrose and Tesco) from New Zealand. But often you’ll have to find out for yourself. Ask at the shop where you’re buying. Look at back labels. And most important, let your taste buds guide you. Once you’ve learned to identify the distinctive flavours of oak, you’ll be able to see where they fit in – or don’t fit in – with the wine you’re drinking.

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