More information on oak's influence on aging and maturing wine

[Oskaar]

Here's some great information on the taste influence of different oak in different kinds of wine, and how it adds structure, complexity, good and bad flavors, astringency, etc.

http://www.winebusiness.com/winemaking/webarticle.cfm?dataId=41530

Cheers,

Oskaar

 

[storm1969]

Interesting article. I have noted the disjointed and heavier alcohol in hungarian oak. I did a Petite Sirah with 3 gallons in american oak and three gallons in hungarian oak. There was no comparison. The American won hands down. The hungarian has never really come togethor, it displays characters that resembly VA in taste, but is not, and the alcohol is more present.

Brian

PS: I have since stopped useing hungarian oak.

 

[Oskaar]

Yup, first fill Hugarian Oak is dicey at best. I have reused Hungarian oak staves and cubes with pretty good results. The structure and character is much better, but it is a big risk to do this if your technique is not at 100% on the sanitization of previously used oak cubes/staves. I wouldn't really recommend doing it to anyone else since I'm not willing to knowingly tell people to try something that has a good chance of killing their batch. But if you have a gallon or so to spare, then that's not too too bad.

Cheers,

Oskaar

 

[byathread]

Very interesting read. I'd love to see them re-convene at 6 month intervals for the next couple of years to follow those batches!