The Bottom line - scraping the barrel?

[Karlien]

"rounded of by wooden flavours, subtle supportive oak, soft vanilla
oak, oak is suitable sublte and nut pushy..."

Whatever your predilection, the marriage between oak and wine has
lasted for centuries, resulting in numerous wine styles. Whether you
enjoy the accompaniment of a "nice easy drinking wine" or insist on
the loyal presence of specific aromas and flavours, toasting the oak
won't let you croak!

Utilising oak barrels in winemaking, with discretion and for
specifically selected wines, develops complexity. When wine is aged
in oak barrels, the oak imparts vanilla, spice and butter flavours to
the wine. It is, however, a delicate process considering the wood
grain, seasoning of the wood, the pereperation of the staves, toasting
(heating) of the inside of the barrel, the wood tannins, the
"strength" of the wine, and particularly so the chemical constituents,
ato mention only a few aspects.

The tighter the wood grain, the slower the tendency to import oak
characteristics in comparison to wood with a looser grain. Air-drying
versus kild-drying the wood also results in different effects on the
wine. Even whether spliting or sawing the wood to make the staves
contributes to the effects of the wood on the wine.

How do you prefer your toast? Lightly, medium or heavy toasted? If
coffee and chocolate flavours are desired, heavy toasted wood would be
the ideal choice; the more lightly toasted barrels bring out the
vanilla flavours in the wine.

Wooding of wine is however, not all in the barrel. Barrels are quite
expensive, pose sterility problems and have a short life-span of four
to five years. Obviously the eco-conscious are also counting the 180
- 200 years growth of every 2 and half trees needed to produce one
barrel.

Therefore various alternatives have been developed to mimic the
traditional fermentation or maturation of wine in wood. Treating the
wine with either oak chips or staves are the most common alternatives
to barrel maturation. Introducing wood to the wine entails the oak
staves are immersed in the modern stainless steel tanks or that oak
powder is sprinkled on the grapes before crushing. The "large tea pot
method" is a nother alternative where the tank is used as a large "tea
pot" by placing a bag filled with oak chips inthe tank to the infuse
the wine.

The above methods involve reduced production costs , but if the cellar
master's bottom line is a barrel and recuded costs, then "recycling"
the older barrels in an answer. The inside of the barrel can be
shaved to expose a fresh wood surface and even thin staves that are
toasted can be inserted.

The result of the alternative methods vary and therefore experimenting
offers an exciting challenge to winemakers - even if it means TO
SCRAPE THE BOTTOM OF THE BARREL!

I you found this discussion interesting, please do not hesitate take
part in the discussion. You can find more on this and much more for
the winelover at www.orangeriverwines.com