Oak in Wine Making

Oak in wine making......does not necessarily mean it was made and aged in oak barrels. Floating oak chips in the wine made in stainless steel tanks is also a way they get that oaky taste. This happens when the wine comes in contact with the oak in the fermenting or aging process. The use of oak in wine making dates back to the Roman Empire where they found that not only was it convenient for storage but also by being stored this way the wine took on principles from the oak which made it softer and sometimes even better tasting. This is a grand finding which we are all thankful for. Robert Mondavi is the one responsible for educating the Americans with oak and the types used and the barrel styles with his experimenting during the 1960's & 70's.

The porous nature of oak allows for the evaporation process. Small amounts of oxygen are allowed to pass through during this process that pass through the barrel and act as a softening agent on the tannins of the wine. Phenols within the wood interact with the wine to make the vanilla like flavors you may taste or the notes of sweetness or tea like. Wine that is matured within the oak has more oak flavors than wine that is fermented in oak. This is because the yeast latches on to the oak on the sides of the barrels. White wines fermented in oak will be extra silky on the palate. The time spent in a barrel depends entirely on the wine maker and the type of wine he chooses to make. There is much trial and error in this process at times.

When using oak chips they are placed in fabric bags and floated in the tanks. Some wineries also use oak powder. This is done less often. But really do we know if it is a barrel, chip or powder? Possibly the high demand makes for needs of the other ways to achieve the oakiness in wines. Time could be a factor which would not allow for the aging in the barrels.

We have come along way with wine making. From bottles to boxes. From barrels to chips & powders. But is is great to see and learn that since the Roman Empire wine making days we still hang on to the original way of doing it in barrels.

Brut Champagne, White Burgundy, Pinot Noir & a California Red Wine......What do they have in common?

It has been over a week since our Wine Study.....I have been slow on the blogging & I apologize. Now to share with you our wonderful afternoon & evening of learning, tasting & dining. By sheer coincidence instead of appetizers to go with our selections, each brought something to contribute to the best balanced meal we could not have planned any better. Sometimes to just "wing" it and not "fuss" over the gathering works better than all the preparation & worry some place into a gathering.

We began our late afternoon meeting with welcoming a newcomer to the group. Pleasingly she fit well into our evening & shares the same thoughts as we do as to the learning of the fruit of the vine. She came prepared well with a "huge" platter of raspberries, blackberries, grapes, sliced baguettes & 2 cheeses. This would be our dessert for the evening. To compliment it she brought a Menage 'a Trois, c blended California Red Wine. She was graciously received into the group, not that a bottle of great wine & platter of great foods had anything to do with our reception. Somehow though a bottle of wine & food always puts a smile on your face when you see it coming through the door. The added bonus was that she was the missing piece to our group. We look forward to the coming months when all of us grow closer not just in knowledge of the vine but also as we become closer friends. After all this is truly what our group is about. Women gathering with a common interest & becoming stronger not only in knowledge but also in our support circle of our dependence on one another in life itself. These sessions concentrate on our learning & broadening our horizons and have no room for the displeasure's we have been through in our lives. Those times of helping one another through the trials & tribulations we go through ....be it men, finances or raising children or pets....are entirely what the other times in our friendships are for, Growing closer to one another, being there to laugh, cry & encourage our sisters as we each experience life. Yes, this is a great support group for us.

We started the evening along side the fire in the living room of Gaynor's with my best pal "Buddy" at my feet. Faithful companion is he. A bottle of Perrier Jouet, was opened. To open a bottle of Champagne you hold the cork & twist the bottle & no rockets go off in your room to cause damage or bodily harm. The steam of the energies within the bottle escaped. It is a Brut Champagne which is one of the finest you can drink. Brut means it is made without added sugar. The sugar content is very low, this is what makes it very, very dry. We learned the 3 main grapes in Champagne are Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, & Pinot Meunier. To maintain the light color the grapes are smooshed quite easily and not smashed and left with the skins to ferment. The bubbles in Champagne appear only upon opening of the bottle. How many bubbles does it contain? Approximately 56 million give or take a few. Hard to imagine isn't it? A bubble is a thin film of liquid filled with gas. Champagne's tiny bubbles emerge naturally from the dissolved state of the liquid. Nothing is added to cause this reaction. The smaller the bubbles, the finer the wine. The length of time aging and the temperature of the wine cellar will affect the type of bubbles you see. The longer the smaller, the cooler the smaller. Our findings on this bottle? Crisp, pleasurable on the palate & tiny, tiny continious flowing bubbles. A very grand way to start an evening. Our appetizer with this was slices of apple along side a wedge of brie cheese & water crackers. After a bit of socializing, learning & enjoyment with out Champagne we headed off to the dining area where we started our next course.

Pouilly-Fuisse' 2009 a White Burgundy of France. I had been longing for a while to try a White Burgundy as I never even had known one such wine existed. I like Burgundies, but I do not like whites much. So this was a time of stepping out of my box (of wine, literally...I drink my wines mostly from boxes) for me. The cost of this wine was only $17.99. There were not many in our liquor store to choose from. To most people burgundy means red.. The great red grape Pinot Noir reaches what many would consider its highest expression in France's Burgundy region and close to 3/4 of all vines planted there are Pinot Noir. The grapes used to make this wine are caused by a mutation on the vine. When this happens on the vine an otherwise red vine can, and to the surprise of all, yield white fruit. A well-recorded example of this occurred in 1936, in the Nuits-St-Georges vineyards of Henri Gouges. Henri noted that some of the old Pinot Noir vines in VClos de Porrets were producing white grapes, taking cuttings and establishing them on suitable rootstocks, he planted the white vines in the nearby Les Perrieres and to this day the vines are still yielding a white wine.

Some wine lovers enjoy red Burgundy so much they seem to forget that Burgundy also produces several of the world's finest white wines. This bottle we shared had a light golden color and crisp luscious notes with a smooth buttery taste. I highly recommend you red wine lovers to try this...possibly you will also find it pleasing to your palates. The only difference is in the eye. The color is not red...it is white.Something a true red wine lover shys away from. To pair with this wine I had taken a spinach salad consisting of baby spinach, red onion, harvard beets which made the bed for a bow tie pasta salad which was made with sweet & sour dressing. Simple, yet delightful not only as a course to start our meal but as the perfect compliment for such a gracious wine. Yes if I must say so myself & pat my own back, good choice in wine & complimentary side.

We next went into the main course, Shepard's pie. With this Jackie had brought a Pepperwood Grove Pinot Noir 2008. This is from Chili. It was burgundy in color, with scents of fresh cranberries, roses & cedar. It was a bit tart on the palate from the cherries & pomegranate flavors with an added earthiness which I liken to how it may have been grown. You could taste the French oak it was harvested in. This was a full bodied wine which went well with our main course. This is a definite to add to your wine collection. This is a steal at around $9 and I suggest you go out and purchase a few bottles as you will truly enjoy this if you are a red wine lover!

We ended our meal with Lesli's Menage a Trois 2009. it was a wonderful blend of 46% Zinfandel, 31% Merlot and 23% Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa California. The alcohol content is 13.5%. It is made from young grapes. Each variety is fermented separately then just before bottling it is blended together. The blackberries and raspberries that mesh together go well with the red fruits of the Merlot and the rich flavor of the Cabernet Sauvignon make for a wonderful full bodied taste which went well with our "healthy" dessert she brought. Desserts are very often thought to have to be made of sugar and sweet and pleasing & gooey & yummy. What we had instead was not only good for us but also sweet, yummy, pleasing & filled with wonderful vitamins and good things for us without weighing us down.

In total this study lasted a bit over 4 hours and was a relaxing way to spend a Saturday afternoon into the evening with wonderful friends. Over the course of drinking & eating it was stretched out perfectly to not allow any of us to feel the affects of consuming 4 different wines. The study size is perfect to keep it small as this way there is more learning going on than just socializing and drinking is kept at bay. None of us wish to turn into alcoholics that is not what we are about. Beginning a wine study is a good idea if you have some friends who share your same interest. Pick yourself up a copy of The Wine Bible and start your own group. There is no cost but for your time & cost of your wine & food selection. It is a wonderful way for great friends to stay in touch especially when life throws at us so many other obligations due to our daily living. We should look at it as "a time for us". Not as something we have to do or do because our friends wish us to. But truly as a time for us to forget all our other obligations and needs and gather with a few close friends and place all other things aside and just relax and learn. I guarantee if you go into it with this mentality you will love it and look forward to the next time you meet with your wine chosen to introduce to your group!

Salute!