Oak and Wine
by Jake Kosseff
One of the great debates amongst wine drinkers has to do with how oaky they like their wines. Some love the flavors that oak adds, some would prefer not to taste oak. Others say “I don’t mind oak, as long as it’s in balance with the wine, you know, just the right amount.” It’s no surprise that people don’t agree. Oaky flavors, like many other aspects of wine, are neither good nor bad on their own, and liking them (or not) is a matter of personal taste. But what many people might not realize is that oak does a lot more to wine than just add flavors.
Oak provides tannins. Tannins are compounds in wine that come from grape seeds and skin. In red wines, which usually have tannins of their own, this merely adds complexity to the texture, sort of like leaving lumps in your mashed potatoes. In white wines, the added tannins can make the wine seem richer, and rounder, or even more powerful, like a red wine. These tannins also act as a preservative, allowing wines to age longer.
Oak aging also affects the texture of red wine by softening the tannins that are already present in the wine. This happens because the tiny flow of oxygen that seeps through the barrel causes the smaller tannin molecules to connect with one another forming longer molecules. These longer molecules feel softer because they no longer get stuck in the tiny receptors on our tongues.
The color of wines can also be greatly affected by time spent in oak. In white wines, oak can add a golden or caramel hue to the wine, both by absorbing the color from the toasted surface on the inside of the barrel and because of complex reactions caused by the naturally occurring compounds in the oak. In red wine, oak aging stabilizes the color, making the wine darker. Aging in oak also helps to clarify wines because compounds that could cause wine to be hazy stick to the inside of the barrels.
And then there are the flavors. Oak can be responsible for flavors like vanilla, butterscotch, cinnamon, clove, dill, cardamom, coconut, cocoa, smoke, or even (surprise) oaky flavors. But not all oak imparts the same flavors. New oak barrels provide much more flavor than used barrels do. The size of the oak container used also contributes to wine: large oak tanks have a less noticeable effect on flavors (due to a lower proportion of barrel surface to wine volume), while smaller barrels have a more noticeable effect. The origin of the oak used also effects flavors – different types of oak grow in different places, and each type of oak imparts unique flavors, so American oak’s flavor contribution is different than that of French oak, Slovenian oak, Hungarian oak or Russian oak.
So next time you’re having a friendly debate about how much oak there should be in wine, remind your friends that there’s more to it than meets the tongue.
| An award-winning Sommelier, wine writer and consultant, Jake Kosseff is the Sommelier at Seattle restaurant Wild Ginger, proprietor of Jake Kosseff Wine Consulting, and the founder of The Extraordinary Dining Society and The Extraordinary Wine Club. Since his move to Seattle Washington in 1999 Jake has consulted on some of the most successful wine programs in Seattle, winning the Best of City Search's wine list category 3 years running. He was named Seattle Magazine's "Best Sommelier" in 2007. |  |