The following is a piece I wrote recently for the community paper “The Whistler” : Place a glass of Rioja Grand Reserva under your nose and you will enjoy aromas of a smoke filled jazz club, cuban cigars, sweet Jack Daniels and vanilla spice. Try the same test with a Cru Classee Bordeaux from St.Estephe and you will be transported to a Gentleman’s club – the aromas are are all cedar cigar box, burnished antique furniture and polished leather. Is this the fruit talking? Not at all, it’s the deliberate effect of maturation in wooden barrels.

Maturing in wood serves a number of functions. The primary aim is to reduce the astringency of harsh tannins in red wines. The pores of the barrel allow an exchange of gases, permitting a slow oxygenation and ultimately a smoother, rounder taste to the wine. Sometimes old oak barrels that have contained many vintages are used to achieve this, in which case no wood flavouring is imparted to the wine. However new oak barrels are used to give particular flavours to a wine, notably variations on vanilla and toast. Certain grape varieties enjoy a particular affinity with oak: Tempranillo in Rioja, Chardonnay in Burgundy, and Cabernet Sauvignon in Bordeaux. Wine makers can adjust the desired flavour and aroma effect in a number of ways. French oak generally imparts more subtle flavours than the loosely grained American oak used in Rioja. The degree of “toasting” (the process of firing the wood to bend it into shape) is also a factor – the more toast on the inside of the barrel the more oaky flavours that result. Finally there is the question of barrel size – the smaller the barrel the greater the surface area of maturing wine that is left in direct contact with the wood resulting in more overt wood influence. Of course maturing in wood barrels is an expensive option for the wine maker – both the barrels themselves and the space for storage. Not surprisingly some mass producers…principally from the new world..prefer to use oak chips though these do not replicate the effects of proper barrel aging.

In my home turf of the Rhone Valley the tradition is either to eschew wood in favour of concrete cuve or at best use large old wood foudre. However a number of Chateauneuf du Pape and Gigondas producers make a special cuvee that matures in new small barrels and they do well with these, in spite of their premium price, especially on the US market.  At Domaine Goubert, Jean-Pierre Cartier pioneered new wood in Gigondas in the 1970’s. His cuvee “Florence”, named after his very charming daughter, is matured in mostly new oak for two years before release. To my palate it is interesting but just too remeniscent of that New Orleans jazz club mentioned above to be a proper Rhone wine. Give me his concrete matured cuvee Tradition at just 11 euros any time!