The New Zealand Herald
September 16, 2011 Friday
Wine: Roll out the barrel
Wood’s influence on wine can be diverse.
Since the days when ancient Armenian merchants shipped their wares
down the Tigris in palm-wood casks, wood has played an important role
in wine – both as a storage container and as an influence on the taste
and texture of the final product. But just as species of trees differ,
what exactly wood brings to a wine can be equally diverse.
I’m not sure what flavours the palm-wood imparted to the contents of
those early casks, but in those days winemakers used wood
predominantly as a handy material with which to make vessels for their
wine’s transportation and storage, giving little thought to its effect
on the wine character.
By the mid 20th century, wood’s role here was usurped when glass
bottles became wine’s main storage receptacle and steel tankers moved
larger quantities around. However, far from being the last time when
grape got together with tree, this issued in an era when wood became
part of a winemaker’s art.
Even after stainless steel vats were introduced from the 1950s, the
appreciation that barrels could add character to a wine means they’ve
remained a key part of winemaking kit for the maturation of fine wines
in particular.
Part of this comes from the fact that unlike impermeable materials
like steel or glass, the small pores in wood allow minute quantities
of oxygen to enter a wine, which changes a wine’s texture, softening
tannins in red wines.
Wood can also leave its mark on a wine’s flavours, with the nuances of
oak making it the most popular material for barrels. As well as being
hard, supple and watertight, oak has a natural affinity with wine’s
flavours, arguably more so than other woods also used for barrels,
such as chestnut, acacia, pine, redwood and Chile’s rough rauli.
Where the oak comes from plays a further part in its taste profile.
American oak is the most overt, often adding sweet, coconutty and
vanilla notes, while French is more restrained, characterised by more
gentle notes of cedar and spice.
In France, individual forests are selected for their woods’ different
grains and characters, and then there are the individual coopers,
whose barrel-making styles are favoured by different winemakers.
Barrel-making involves the toasting of staves that allow these to be
bent into shape, a practical technique that is now manipulated to
provide winemakers with different levels of “toast” and resulting
toasty characters that can infuse into their wines.
Wood influence can also be regulated by the size of the barrel, with
the small and most popular 225-litre barriques showing the strongest,
while the larger surface area of big barrels and vats imparting less.
As the strength of oak’s flavours decline with usage and time, the age
of the barrel also impacts on its intensity.
But not all wood you taste in a wine is from a barrel: given these can
cost big bucks, winemakers have developed cheaper ways to harness its
flavours. One popular method is the use of wooden staves, which are
basically planks that sit in a vat of wine.
Even cheaper cheats for less expensive wines are the wood chips
winemakers use to leach toasty notes into their wines, or even cruder,
a splash of oak essence. These are far less refined in terms of taste
and do nothing for texture.
Can’t see the wood for the trees? Well, after some years of excess,
our winemakers have become wiser to wood and are now increasingly
choosing wood that will enhance their wines rather than overwhelm.
WOOD WORK
Some grapes unfurl in oak, while others work better in the inert
temperature-controlled containers that preserve fruit and aromatics.
Here are a few from across the spectrum.
OAKY CHARDONNAY
Julicher Martinborough Chardonnay 2009 $19-$22
Without oak, chardonnay can be a trifle dull. But this
barrel-fermented example certainly isn’t, with its ripe stonefruit and
citrus, enhanced by nutty toasty flavours and a creamy texture from
French oak. (From Caro’s, Scenic Cellars, )
SPICY WOODED SHIRAZ
Mojo Barossa Valley Shiraz 2010 $18.99
Wood pairs well with the spicy flavours of a grape like syrah. While
Australian winemakers traditionally opted for in-yer-face American
oak, French is now finding favour, with both used in this ripe and
rich brightly boysenberry packed example with its sweet cinnamon spice
and a hint of pepper. (From Caro’s, Fine Wine Delivery Company, First
Glass, New World Victoria Park, Waiheke Wine Centre, Hamilton Wine
Company, Hillsdene Wine Cellars, Arawa Wines, Scenic Cellars,
Liquorland.)
TREE FREE
Auburn Aura Central Otago Riesling 2010 $30
Riesling tends to taste better without oak, which would overwhelm the
purity of a fine example like this with its sweet honeyed palate of
apricot, spice and lemon blossom counterpoised by fresh notes of
citrus and mineral. (Scenic Cellars, Hillsdene Wines, First Glass.)
By Jo Burzynska
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10751651
www.julicher.co.nz