Putting the Oak in Your Risotto: Why Your Wine Tastes the Way it Does

(PalatePress) - Oak-ageing for wine can now be calibrated scientifically with a new measurement of “tannic potential” of oak barrels.  In order to demonstrate how different barrels can alter the taste, the researcher Jean Charles Vicard, owner of the barrel-making brand Esprit de Dryades, enlisted a Michelin-starred chef to use tiny amounts of different barrel woods as spices in cooking.

   In the 1990s, oaked wines were very fashionable — but not everyone loved them. However, no one will deny the important role of wood, especially in small quantities, in the making of a good wine. It’s a bit naïve to take the wine (or rather, the grape juice) and throw it in a barrique, trusting that this tool can do wonders by itself.  That’s why it is so important to choose the right type of wood and the right level of toasting (the insides of wine barrels are literally “toasted” over a fire). To make the best choices for their wines, most producers rely on past experience, the recommendations of consultants (or vendors of barrels), and a bit of research.  But until now there was no scientific system for knowing in advance what the taste of the wine would be at the end of its aging in wood.

 Today this method exists, and it’s based on the tannic potential of the wooden barrels. Jean Charles Vicard is an avid researcher who devoted years to the study of wood (he collaborates with the LEC, the oenological laboratory in Cognac, and with INRA, the French National Institute for Agricultural Research); he has analyzed more than 300 different varieties of wood. During a meeting with some of the most famous Italian producers (among them Charrere, Dal Forno and Pieropan) he talked about his research and results:

“The tannin content of the wood has great influence on the final result of the operation of toasting,” he explained. “The right dose of the ‘cooking time’ of the wood used for the barrique and the temperature of the fire are the elements needed to get a defined flavor and tannic profile. By handling these two fundamental parameters, we are able to extract the organoleptic qualities we need from the oak.”