Concerning oak and casks

No other secondary material has become as important to the life of wine as oak.

Oak is not inert matter, its reciprocal relation with wine being in itself and by tradition beneficial to the consumer.

So much so that numerous regulations respecting quality wines focus the image of their products on the time the wines spend in oak casks.

For centuries, there have been regulations concerning oak and the shape of the cask. We still know very little today about oak in relation to its reaction with wine. The modern wine cellar hardly seems the place for the convex anatomy of the casks, which may have been functional in the past, but nowadays means harder work. But this is a price to be paid for wines which are valued, not only for their quality, but also for a certain image. A tendency to simplify could paradoxically complicate this overall image of quality, the presentation of which, reflects the many hours of work which are dedicated to its production.

Despite centuries of coexistence between wine and oak it is difficult to find any systematic, specific research amongst many vague theories.

Nevertheless, at times we think we know a great deal and become dogmatic, searching for a foothold where none is to be found.

Our intention here is not to expound a far-reaching study, but rather to try to put ideas into some kind of perspective, perhaps of possible use to specialists who, like ourselves, entertain serious doubts about the rhetoric surrounding oak and its relationship with wine.

Variants to be considered.

The oak used in wine casks can have the following variants:

• Different species of oak.
• Different growth habitats.
• Different forestry techniques (regime, growth etc.).
• Different types of cut (split or sawn).
• Different seasoning periods for the cut wood.
• Different stave thickness.
• Different degree of scorching for bending.
• Possibility of caulking or pore coverage by the barrel-maker.

After considering these parameters of such inexact evaluation we might ask ourselves: What do we know in technical terms about oak? Can an enologist venture to predict the response of a batch of oak casks to a certain wine?

It may be that, despite being specialists on the subject of oak and wine, we act:

• Routinely
• In response to clichés
• In blind faith regarding the prestige of the barrel-makers as craftsmen.