What You Need to Know
Oak is used in winemaking to vary the color, flavor, tannin profile and texture of wine. It can be introduced in the form of a barrel during the fermentation or aging periods, or as free-floating chips or staves added to wine fermented in a vessel like stainless steel. Oak barrels can impart other qualities to wine through evaporation and low level exposure to oxygen.
Steps
- 1.
Barrel-aged cocktails (USA): Imparts woody complexity and accelerates flavor integration
- 2.
Solera system sherries (Spain): Creates layered oxidation characteristics through fractional blending
- 3.
Château-style wine aging (France): Develops structured tannins and tertiary aromas