Over a barrel

Oak and wine have been in partnership since ancient times when it was discovered that wine being transported in barrels gained additional flavours. These days it can be an incredibly scientific process, with it being possible to fine-tune the attributes of the barrels to compliment and accentuate the other flavours in the wine.

Oak is oak, right?  This is about to get nerdy.

Depending on the species of the oak tree, where it’s grown, how long the wood is dried, the size and shape of the staves, and how the barrel is toasted, you will get different effects and flavours.

For instance, if you have a small barrel constructed from fast-growing American oak with its more open grain structure, and staves cut with a U-shape profile, it maximises wine-to-oak contact. Doing this ensures rapid extraction of flavours and tannin. This can work well for wines made to be released young, but can be too aggressive for some wines, and might not integrate so well.

On the other hand, French oak comes from slower-growing trees, which creates a finer grain structure. French barrels are prized for their refined flavours and slower extraction and micro-oxidation. Of course, because of that slow growth (and maybe because they’re French and therefore better, according to the French), these barrels can cost considerably more than American barrels.

Now, of course, a winemaker can order custom-made barrels to exact specifications. For example, World Cooperage’s ‘Fusion’ series combines oak from America, France, and Hungary in various proportions, to which can be assigned one of several toast profiles. Combining various attributes in one barrel can be especially handy for producing small batches, where using different barrel types and blending them later isn’t really an option.

What are the barrel flavours?

Oak contains aromatic compounds like vanillin, as also found in vanilla, with each species of tree having its own flavour profile. Combine that with toasting the inner surfaces of the barrel over a heat source to a lesser or higher degree, which adds smokey and toasted flavours, and the possibilities are endless.

Aside from the vanilla, expect aromas like coconut, hazelnut, baking spices, clove, chocolate, coffee, tobacco, woodsmoke, leather, sandalwood, and cedar. Oak, like grapes, contains tannins, antioxidants that help the wine age, and also gives it that astringent sensation on the palate. 

It’s all about balance, finding not only the right flavours to match a given wine but also how much of that flavour and tannin to impart to it. Most wines will use a combination of new and used barrels, as not to make the wine overly oaky, but also to keep the price of production down.

So what difference can it really make?

This is where the fun really begins, getting to taste wines from the same lots, but aged in different barrels. I was lucky to be invited by Paul Frankel, winemaker at Sculpterra Winery, to do just that. It was a cool, murky day, and the road to the production building was especially muddy, but who could resist such an invitation?

The samples

2019 Mourvèdre 

Lot – 8.48 tons picked from 1.25 acres. Biggest Mourvèdre lot ever!

Sample #1. 225 liter World Cooperage Fusion barrel. American, Hungarian, and French oak. Extra-fine grain, medium toast. $570 per barrel.

Fairly restrained nose. Balanced mouthfeel with tannin reaching the mid-palate. Floral and milk-chocolate aromas along with dark fruits. Pleasant cedar taste on the finish.

Sample #2. 240 liter World Cooperage thin stave 100% American oak. Extra-fine grain. $400 per barrel.

More intense aroma. Plum, blackberry, dark chocolate. Tannin appeared more toward the front of the palate, and not so balanced.

My preference would be the fusion barrel here. It seemed like the more complete wine, even though at the moment, the fruit was more subtle.

2019 Primitivo

A fruit-forward wine that pairs well with American oak. 17-ton lot.

Sample #1. 240 liter World Cooperage American oak. Medium+ toast profile 61. $435 

Blueberry-strawberry fruit with smoke and geranium floral notes. Tannin mostly at the front of the palate. Peppery finish.

Sample #2. 240 liter World Cooperage American oak. Medium+ toast profile 107. $425

Definite strawberry jam on toast aroma, with vanilla and a hint of mint leaf. Peppery finish. Slightly better balance with more tannin on the mid-palate, but less complex fruit profile.

A close call. I loved the sweet strawberry jam thing, however, the refinement and complexity from the first sample also has its appeal. A blend of the two would be my answer, perhaps with a bias towards sample #2.

2018 Cabernet Sauvignon

9.21 tons picked from the 3.5 acre Bentley Ironworks block. Vines planted in 1993.

Sample #1. 500-liter Doreau-Vernou ‘Seduction’ barrel. High-end French oak. $1303.

Oh my! This smells like the best Belgian dark chocolate blackberry and cherry truffles, along with cedar, leather and vanilla. Wonderful complexity and integration. 

Sample #2. 500 liter Burgundy blend French oak. $1232.

More cherry than blackberry on the nose, with vanilla, clove and mint leaf. Interestingly, less purple to the colour than sample #1. Seemed a little less well-integrated on the palate, but with nice flavour. 

Both samples were awesome. Not surprising really, given how consistently tasty the Bentley Ironworks Cab tends to be. For me though, the ‘Seduction’ barrel proved the clear winner, really elevating a great wine to the next level.

2019 Petite Sirah

A heavy-weight wine that can handle a lot of oak flavour. 11.5-ton lot.

Sample #1. 475 liter AP John Appalachian American oak. Medium-fine grain. Heavy toast. $1100.

Deep plum and blackberry fruit, woodsmoke and coffee.

Sample #2. 500 liter Seguin Moreau Missouri American oak. U-stave, heavy toast. $838.

Less intense fruit, with more cedar. Plum, pomegranate, vanilla. Acid a little more prevalent than sample #1.

Both big wines with flavour and mouthfeel of similar intensity and balance. I would say the AP John barrel had the edge over-all, with a touch more refinement.

What did we learn from this?

Sure it’s a complicated subject and I’m barely touching the surface here, but hopefully, if you’ve read this far, you will have gained a little. I found the whole experience fun and fascinating, and if you get the opportunity to barrel-taste then you definitely should. It’s one thing to know some of the theory involved, but being able to taste these wines side by side really gave me an extra appreciation for influences that the barrel alone can have.

I’ll be making a little wine from my own grapes this year, and I’m already considering how to achieve the oak profile I’m hoping to give it. Of course with my limited volume of production and even more limited funds, buying a whole new barrel isn’t a realistic option, but it is possible to buy oak staves, spirals, or chips as an alternative. These tend to have a faster rate of extraction, and because I’ll be aging the wine in carboys and a steel tank, I won’t be getting that slow evaporation and oxygen ingress that barrels allow, so the wine will develop differently.

This is my most complicated post yet, so you have my appreciation if you got this far. 

If you would like to know more about my own little vineyard project, and how I got into wine, click here.

If you would like to see my tasting notes on the fabulous 2014 Bentley Ironworks Cabernet Sauvignon, then here’s that review from 2018.

I also found a very satisfying video from Seguin Moreau showing how barrels are made.

Disclaimer: I am an employee of Sculpterra Winery; however, opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own. 

My gratitude to Paul Frankel (Winemaker) and Pixie Kempel (WSET3 certified wine educator), and of course my wife, Jamie (Grammar supervisor) for their input.

Darren.