What else about the wood – Part 2

Picking up from why winemakers would consider using wood contact here, there are other concerns they need to ponder.

  1. The grapes you intend on using must have an affinity for wood contact; which they all do not have. Light shy or aromatic grape varieties can easily be overpowered by the wood flavour. Examples of these include Sauvignon Blanc, Muscadet, Riesling and Friulano (read about it here), to name a few, that are not normally allowed any wood contact. It is worth pointing out though that there are stunning exceptions where wood contact is successfully achieved with said grapes.
  2. Different types of wood have different characteristics and flavours that affect the finished product. History has seen various kinds of wood used ranging from acacia, cypress, chestnut, ash, redwood, pine to eucalyptus. With each having some negative attribute to it, winemakers the world over have mostly come to use white oak as their preferred choice. And yet, the region the oak comes from must carefully be scrutinized as well.
  3. The percentage of new wood used requires a skilful decision. A barrel can be used about 4 times, with the first time imparting the most wood flavour. Subsequent uses impart less and less flavour. When restrained or altogether limited oak flavour is warranted in the wine, older barrels are used as they still provide slow oxygenation and clarification benefits. The intended wine to be made therefore determines the proportion of new and old to use. And yet the cost associated with a new barrel is rather substantial, to say the least, implying financial position too affects how much new oak you can use.
  4. Methods involved in the barrel making process (known as coopering) result in different flavours in the end. How the wood is treated and how charred the inside of the barrel is are believed to be the most determining influences.
  5. The larger the size of the container, the lower the surface area to volume ration meaning the lower the wood flavour imparted in the wine. Oak chips and saw dust have a high surface area to volume ration thus imparting a large amount of flavour quickly.
  6. Maintenance of wooden barrels requires strict hygienic standards, with frequent and thorough cleaning, and must be kept within exact temperature and humidity levels, to ensure the wood remains viable as a containment vessel.
  7. Local custom/styles do play a determining role as well, with tradition having thought to have begun for a reason. Note, nevertheless, that wine has changed over the years to mimic consumers’ taste profiles, cementing the fact that wine making remains an ever evolving process.
  8. The duration of contact affects the amount of wood flavour imparted; the longer imparting more flavour.
  9. When to incorporate the wood contact: either during fermentation or after. Barrel fermentation is mostly used for white wines as the skins of red wines prove cumbersome when being inserted or removed from the small opening in barrels (known as the bung hole); though wooden open top fermenters can be used. Its bonuses include protecting the wine from oxygen as it ferments, not requiring alternative temperature control and being able to integrate and soften the oak flavours more subtly in the wine. On the other hand, barrel maturation caters for longer required durations, when for example heavy tannic reds such as Cabernet Sauvignon need to soften out.

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