The Art of Wine Making: Choice of Oak Barrels for Wine Aging

Wine may be fermented and aged in a variety of materials including stainless steel, oak and ceramic vessels, including concrete. The use of oak barrels is very common and its use dates back to the early days of Roman wine making.

While stainless steel imparts no additional flavor to a wine, and ceramics and concrete can add hints of minerality, oak barrels can have influences that range from subtle to intense.

When wine is aged in oak barrels, it develops flavors from the wood. Most commonly, oak barrels result in vanilla flavor that works well with many white and red wines.

If a wine is aged in 100% new oak, it will likely be very bold, rich, spicy and, of course, oaky. But, wines pull these flavors out of barrels relatively quickly. After the first year of use, a barrel loses much of its flavoring ability and, after three vintages, the wine has extracted most all of the oak's flavors, thus it is considered neutral oak.

Wines may still be fermented or aged in neutral barrels. Such aging tends to soften wines, particularly tannic wines, without adding the extra flavors. Neutral oak is typically used to maintain the fruit qualities in a wine while still getting some of the other benefits of aging in oak.

Much of the flavor imparted by the oak occurs naturally from the raw wood. But winemakers learned long ago that by "toasting" the inside of an oak barrel, they can enhance these flavors.

After a barrel is built, its inside can be exposed to fire to "toast" it. This is done either over an open flame or using a hand-held torch. The fire 'caramelizes' the wood's natural sugars and brings out complex compounds. From this, the wine will ultimately take on flavors that are toasty, charred, spicy and sweet depending on the amount of time the wood is toasted.

A lightly toasted barrel spends about 25 minutes exposed to flame while a heavily toasted barrel may get up to one hour of flame exposure. Essentially, the heavier the toast, the stronger and more varied are the imparted flavors.

Behind the Cork™ - Virginia Wine Governor's Cup Winner: Michael Shaps Chardonnay

2022 Michael Shaps Wild Meadow Chardonnay ($28)

Nestled in the woods just south of Charlottesville, Michael Shaps Winery blends Old World tradition with Virginia terroir. Founded in 2007 by acclaimed winemaker Michael Shaps, the winery is known for producing small-batch, age-worthy wines.

Produced in the Burgundian style, this 100% Chardonnay is whole-cluster pressed and fermented in oak barrels (50% new) with ambient (wild) yeast. This resulted in a prolonged fermentation and full malolactic conversion. It was then followed by 15 months of aging on primary lees.

This Michael Shaps Wild Meadow Chardonnay is medium gold in color with a very delicate aroma of pear. On the palate, this Chardonnay is fresh and bright. Its rather high acidity of 6.15 g/L is somewhat offset by the oak aging, having undergone full Malolactic conversion and the reported 0% residual sugar. These factors yield a Burgundy-like Chardonnay, that is fresh and bright. [ABV: 13%, TA: 6.15 g/L, pH: 3.2, RS: 0%]

This is yet another winner and, at this price, a perfect fit as the Behind the Cork™ Wine of the Week. Cheers!

Disclosure of Wine Sample Submission: I received this sample at no cost for review.

Media Sample Provided by Michael Shaps Winery, Virginia Wine and Donna White Communications

The Art of Wine Making: Making Decisions on Blending Wines

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Blending of wines plays a large role in the art of wine making.

The main reason that winemakers produce blends is to make the best wine possible.

Blending different grape varieties is useful in accentuating a particular grape's virtues. But winemakers have also learned never to blend an inferior wine with a good wine because the result is usually an inferior wine.

Blending allows for wines that are well balanced and complex in their aromas, flavors, colors and textures. The blended grapes can add layers of flavor that will change through the process of taking the first sip, letting it sit on your tongue and then as you swallow.

Here are some of the types of blending strategies used by wine makers:

Varietal Blends: This is the most common blending done in wine making. Here, wine makers blend different grapes (varieties) to achieve the wine that they desire. Examples include Bordeaux wines, Rhone Wine and Super Tuscan wines. Also, in the U.S., most wines labeled as single varietals are actually blends.  The laws state that for a wine to be labeled as a single varietal, it must contain at least 75% of the noted grape. That leaves the other 25% for the winemaker to be creative and generally to blend in other grapes that results in their best possible wine.

Field Blends: These are wines that are made from different grape varieties that are grown together in the same vineyard, harvested at the same time, and fermented together in one batch.

Vineyard Blends: Wine makers may draw grapes from multiple vineyards or even multiple regions and blend them to achieve the desired traits.

Vintage Blends: While rarely done, a wine maker may find that their current vintage just isn’t up to their standards. They can then choose to blend this year’s vintage with some of last year’s vintage.

With the exception of field blends, the wines are typically blended after fermentation and aging, just prior to blending.

As this series has continually pointed out, wine making is both a science and an art. And the art of blending, when done well, can elevate a wine to something greater than the sum of its parts. Cheers!

Behind the Cork™ - Virginia Wine Governor's Cup Winner: Barboursville Vineyards Octagon

2017 Barboursville Vineyards Octagon ($95)

This Barboursville Vineyards wine was named to celebrate the estate’s diverse connections with the legacy of Thomas Jefferson, symbolized in the central octagon drawing room in his design for Governor Barbour’s mansion.

Octagon is produced from 100% estate-grown grapes including 62% Merlot, 31% Cabernet Franc and 7% Petit Verdot. The gapes were grown under the expertise of viticulturist Fernando Franco, and were sourced from two Merlot parcels, one Cabernet Franc, and two Petit Verdot plots.

A traditional approach to fermentation was followed, with blending occurring after 12 months of aging.

This Octagon is medium purple in color with aromas of red fruit, sweet tobacco and notes from the oak aging. On the palate, this medium-full bodied wine has rich black fruit flavors along with notes from the 12 months of oak aging. It has medium-high tannin and finishes soft and balanced. [ABV: 13.5%, TA: 5.4 g/L, pH: 3.68, Residual Sugar: <0.1%]

This is indeed a winner and a perfect fit as the Behind the Cork™ Wine of the Week. Cheers!

Disclosure of Wine Sample Submission: I received this sample at no cost for review.

Media Sample Provided by Barboursville Vineyards, Virginia Wine and Donna White Communications