How Oak Shapes the Taste of Wine and Whiskey

Not each vineyard or distillery ages in oak, however once they do, the barrel turns into greater than storage — it’s a silent collaborator, including character and complexity to wine and whiskey alike. That’s why, even in an period of chrome steel tanks and concrete eggs, oak stays the benchmark in opposition to which different vessels are measured, imparting distinct traits to drinks. 

Oak is a tough but pliable wooden that has been pivotal within the manufacturing of wine and spirits for the reason that earliest variations have been crafted. Practically all whiskey worldwide is aged in some kind of oak, and U.S. federal regulation requires bourbon to be aged in new, charred American white oak barrels. Whereas wine will be aged in different vessels, oak stays supreme and is the preferred kind of wooden for wine casks.

Noah Rothbaum, writer of The Whiskey Bible, says it’s a typical false impression that barrels used for getting old merely maintain a spirit or wine till it’s able to bottle up. In truth, it’s fairly the other. Wooden barrels flip a easy liquid into one thing exceptional that deserves a spot in your glass by including taste, altering its texture, and strengthening its construction by way of tannins. Whereas each drinks are remodeled by way of oak, wine and whiskey draw completely different traits from the barrel.

“It’s not only a vessel, and it’s not only a container,” Rothbaum says. “Relying upon who you ask, as much as 80% of a spirit’s taste comes from the barrel, so barrels are an extremely vital a part of the manufacturing of whiskey. Wine, however, advantages from the change, however some wines don’t ever are available in contact with a barrel.”

Since winemakers and distillers look to oak for various causes, we tapped a couple of specialists presenting on the Meals & Wine Basic in Charleston in every class to study extra about how oak influences their beverage to outline every bottle of wine and whiskey.

What winemakers get from getting old in oak

Earlier than wine was even bottled in glass, it was offered in wood barrels for consumption. Wooden is central to winemaking and there are a couple of primary causes that winemakers choose to age wine in oak particularly.

Many individuals might affiliate wine aged in oak barrels with wealthy, buttery Chardonnay, however Steve Matthiasson, the winemaker at Napa Valley’s Matthiasson Wines, says oak has a lot extra to present than that oftentimes overpowering taste profile. New oak is the one kind of wooden that imparts sturdy flavors of vanilla, clove, and spice. Used barrels, although much less fragrant, stay helpful instruments: They permit gradual oxygenation, encourage lees contact, and may lend delicate secondary notes with out overwhelming the fruit. That mild change of oxygen by way of the pores of oak helps clean a wine’s texture and information it towards maturity. 

“The breathability and form of oak are integral to conventional winemaking,’ says Matthiasson. “Oak is conventional for a cause as a result of it permits gradual oxygen publicity that’s very measured to mature the wine to the purpose the place it’s able to bottle and scrumptious. We’ve at all times been a vineyard that fortunately depends on used oak barrels.”

Matthiasson notes that past the fabric, barrels produce other advantages for winemakers. The form of a barrel permits wine to relaxation extra simply on the lees, or lifeless yeast cells, which produces a creamy mouthfeel. As a result of barrels are available in a spread of sizes, from puncheons to plain codecs, they make it simpler for winemakers to age and later mix wines from completely different harvests — one thing much less sensible in giant chrome steel or concrete tanks. 

Colour and character: oak’s alchemy in whiskey

For whiskey, the oak barrel is much more important. If the mix of grain, yeast, and water by no means interacted with an oak barrel, it wouldn’t be whiskey in any respect.

Not like wine, which can be aged in used or frivolously toasted barrels, many whiskies — particularly bourbon — acquire coloration and taste from new, charred American oak; different kinds use a mixture of charred, toasted, or beforehand used casks. The wooden additionally provides the aspect of a rounder mouthfeel to the spirit because it does for wine, however Ann Marshall and Scott Blackwell from Charleston’s Excessive Wire Distilling say they primarily see charred oak as a taste driver.

“After we first set out, we have been so fired up about proving the purpose that the grain mattered,” says Blackwell. “However I do imagine oak is a crucial ingredient. The liquid is type of like a normal white mushroom you’d purchase on the retailer; it’s going to choose up no matter else you add to the pan.” 

When the liquid that can develop into whiskey is first distilled, it’s a transparent, excessive‑proof spirit generally known as “new make.” Relying on the distillery, it might probably style fruity, malty, or smoky, nevertheless it lacks the colour and layered flavors related to mature whiskey. These qualities develop over time in oak barrels: Bourbon, by regulation, should spend at the least two years in new, charred American oak, whereas Scotch and Irish whiskey require a minimal of three years in cask. In follow, most whiskies are matured far longer, permitting the spirit to tackle the amber hue and sophisticated flavors that make it distinctive.