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  Columns > Ian Osterlof > Aging Wine in Barrels

   Published in: March 2007
 
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To find perfect harmony between the oak and flavors of the wine is very rare indeed. It is all down to business, I'm afraid. The proof of this is that today, wines are often left in barrels – I hesitate to use the word “matured” – for just 3, 6, or 10 months only. This time is too short to significantly modify the wine, and I suspect such wine producers surreptitiously add oak flavors in the form of oak shavings or oak staves to avoid the cost of using barrels altogether.

If using new barrels affect the wine so strongly, then why not use barrels have been used for between two to five wines already? By then, a lot of the wood tannins would be soaked out, weakening the grilled and smoky aromas. But, you still get a sense of the wood flavors well-integrated into the wine, which thus becomes concentrated and spicy as a result. For this reason, it is common for winemakers to mix the use of new and used barrels in all sorts of combinations, which are blended before bottling.
“To find perfect harmony between the oak and flavors of the wine is very rare indeed.”

Another good reason for barrel-aging is the vital process of micro-oxygenation of the wine. This does not happen in steel or concrete vats, which can retard the aging process, making the wine less complex in flavor and appeal.

However, don't be misled at this point into thinking that it is barrels that are the lone source of pleasure in a great wine. The pleasing notes of a good wine are borne of the many phenols and aromatic compounds in the wine, which in turn come from many different sources and processes. In fact, wine is composed of 1000 different molecules, which sometimes makes it difficult to pinpoint exactly what makes a particular wine great and others, less so. And to confuse matters even further, once bottled, wines age differently since they are now starved of oxygen, and this is arguably where the most fun is to be had with regards keeping wines for the long term.

  
Barrels will affect the taste of the wine, but it is the quality of grapes that is most important.
Phenols and aromatic compounds come from:
The grapes themselves – many different clones and qualities exist
Pre-fermentation or cold maceration – chilling grapes to delay fermentation
Alcoholic fermentation – turning sugar into ethanol and CO2
Maceration – prolonged contact between the grape skin and the raw wine, lasting from hours to 30 or 40 days
Malolactic fermentation – lactic acid bacteria transforms malo acid into lactic acid, which lowers the wine's acidity. This fermentation has a great impact on the wine
Maturing in oak – micro-oxygenation occurs, which happens when the barrels are heated and puts the wooded flavor into the wine
Bottle aging – with a lack of oxygen, reductive development takes places over time, and alters the quality of the wine
 


Phenolic Compounds: Also known as polyphenols, these include many color pigments such as anthocyans (a red pigment), and flavonoids (yellow pigment). These phenolic acids have anti-oxidative properties, which is apparently good for one's health. Tannins, too, are phenolic acids, and depending on their concentration within the wine, one may find these to be harsh, bitter, and astringent. Tannins come mostly from the grape skin as well as from the seeds and the woody stems.

Other phenolic acids are volatile phenols that can alter the wine quickly, such as cinnamic acid, which is an important constituent in wine and phenols, giving the drink a smoky, spicy, toasty, and burnt aroma.

Another well-known phenolic acid is resveratrol. Phenolics are so very important because aside from altering taste, they influence the color of the wine, its sense of acidity, astringency, and bitterness, as well as its oxidation-reduction properties, as well as the stability of the color and its aging.
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Ian Osterlof is a Swedish-born wine maker who has been growing wines in France for almost a decade. Having won numerous awards for his 1st vintage, Château Grand Callamand, grown near Aix-En-Provence, he now owns his own vineyard in Minervois, Languedoc.

Ian also owns Grappe d'Or, a distributor of excellent French wines from all regions.

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