Cooperage Matters -- French Oak

We got a late start today as the approach into Dijon-Bourgogne Airport was fogged in (actually, I had computer problems after a Windows 10 automatic "upgrade," but a fogged in airport sounds like a more interesting story). Upon deplaning, we drove south and slightly west for about 50km/31mi to Meursault. We haven't been here since we tasted the local white wine made of Chardonnay, but we're back today for a different reason -- to explore the wine barrels made in the area.

Just as with wines in France, barrelmaking, or cooperage as it is known in trade, is a highly regulated artform. The highest quality cooperages, in fact, have nearly enough certifications to paper their walls. And, while they are willing to make barrels from any of French, American, Hungarian, Slovenian, Slovakian, or Russian oak, as well as from acacia, our focus today is on French oak, mostly from the forests in the central and eastern parts of the country. 

One of the major keys to choosing oak is the density of striations; that is, the closeness to each other are the rings. Generally speaking, although there are occasional exceptions, French oak is more tightly striated than American oak. Chemically, this means that the wood has more eugenol and less syringaldehyde and vanillaldehyde. From a practical standpoint, the oak imparts more of the spice, clove, and smoke character more common to wines aged in French oak and less vanilla that is common to wines aged in American oak.

After receiving the oak from the forests they prefer, the coopers here sun-dry their oak for a full 24 months. Doing this reduces the natural moisture in the oak and allows the lactone to seap into the oak bringing out more aromatic infusion into the wine.

Here, every barrel is made to the specifications of the winemaker. You cannot just go in and purchase a barrel or qunatity of barrels. You select staves according to moisture and thickness, and you select the level of toast in the barrel. (As an aside, particularly for bourbon drinkers, bourbon barrels are charred while wine barrels are toasted. Charring produces the softer texture necessary in whiskey and gives a somewhat different flavor because the sugars don't get time to caramelize as they do in toasting. A different way of looking at it is that the high alcohol content of whisky requires more of a softening of the "bite.")

While it would be anathema for a fine French wine to use anything but French oak if using oak at all, the rule of thumb would be that the lighter wines thrive in the tighter striations of French oak while American oak caters to the big, bold, fruit and alcohol bombs that satisfy the American palate. That said, you rarely see an American Pinot Noir or a top American Chardonnay that has seen American oak.

From the largest French oak barrels, expect significant amounts of spice, particularly peppery notes, as well as clove, and generous smoke. In the smaller barrels such as barriques, since there is less natural infusion of lactones, expect the flavors imparted from the oak to be far more subtle.

Tomorrow, at least temporarily, we conclude our barrel adventures by exploring the oak of both eastern Europe and the Iberian peninsula (Spain and Portugal).