Classic Wines

Barreling in the Wine Making Process

Once grapes have been harvested and crushed, an inevitable situation arises: the winemaker must choose suitable vessels with which to contain the liquid. The winemaker chooses what to use based on factors including gape varietal, desired flavor style, price point of the wine, and the size of the vintage.
Most wine enthusiasts have images of endless rows of barrels stacked high in the dim candle lit caves of historic French Chateaus. Clearly, this is one of the most romantic images associated with the trade of winemaking! The tradition of aging wine in wooden barrels extends back hundreds of years, and oak has been almost uniformly considered the optimum material for the barrels' construction. Other wood types have been used, but oak possesses specific properties that make it popular. It is water tight -- enough so it will not leak, yet porous enough to allow for some evaporation to occur. Approximately five to six gallons in a standard 59 gallon barrel are lost while aging. Because of this, the barrel must be continually "topped off," or filled with reserve wine (usually from a previous vintage) so that an air pocket does not form letting oxidation occur. If the barrel is properly and carefully topped off, the breathing allowed by the barrel is slow enough to prevent harmful oxidation yet allow for concentration of flavors and aromatic compounds. As the wine ages, it soaks up the tannins from the oak wood, adding intricate complexities. Phenolic compounds contained by oak impart flavors including vanilla, caramel, and spice. In fact, the only way to obtain certain desired characteristics in the finished wine is to harness the power of oak.

Although oak is not involved in the production of all wines, the decision of the winemaker is not simply to add oak or not to add oak. If oak is to be used in a wine there are a variety of options! Let me try and clarify some of the concerns:

American oak vs. French oak - There is wood sourced from forests all over the world, but these are the two most popular. American oak contains more intense flavors than French. The preparation and construction of the barrels is generally slightly different, with the oak being split to make French barrels and sawed to make American barrels. French barrels are much more expensive than American, with the average French barrel costing around $600 and American around $300.

Toasting - The inside of barrels are usually charred to varying degree by the cooper. The toasting of the wood imparts other interesting flavors to the wine. Put simply: the more toasting, the less oak flavor and tannins imparted, and more subtle interesting flavors are left to shine through.

New oak vs. old oak - The wood contains the most intense flavors while it is new, and over time the wine leaches out the different flavor compounds. A barrel used for many vintages will have little, if any oak properties left to impart on the wine. Winemakers often use both newer and older oak, blending after aging to achieve the desired taste.

The biggest drawback to oak barrels is the high price. With increasing globalization and competition in the wine market, all but the highest price-point wines must be produced on a strict budget. That means many winemakers are forced to cut inputs like oak, especially because a similar effect can be achieved using a cheap substitute. In order to save money and offer a huge convenience factor, processed oak can be added to stainless steel vats to impart oak flavor without the hassle and cost of using small barrels. Oak chips or staves can be tossed in the newly born wine, and simply filtered out when it is time to bottle. They are offered in light, medium, or heavy toasts, just like barrels. Standardized oak extract can be added drop by drop to quantitatively produce a level of "oakiness" that is exactly replicable. This is part of the reason large scale wineries can make their wines taste almost exactly the same year after year.

The use of new technology in winemaking is often received with mixed reactions. Some winemakers enthusiastically point out the benefits for large production, while others exclaim that to perform these measures are to vandalize tradition. It is mostly the historical winemaking countries that harbor these sentiments. For example, it wasn't until 2006 that the use of oak chips was legally allowed in the European Union! The importance of tradition in winemaking becomes a bigger question every year. New technology keeps arriving that allows winemakers to cut costs all the while international competition between wineries is increasing. Ultimately, the choice is up to you as the consumer: if the wine tastes the same, does it matter how it was made?