Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/116287
OAK ALTERNATIVES From an Alternative to a Priority Winemakers describe how they use oak products in the cellar By Andrew Adams Highlights • he range and improved quality of oak alternatives T enable winemakers to hit specific oak flavors. • arge- and small-production wineries are using L the products regularly. • lthough most say alternatives still aren't as good A as barrels, some winemakers contend the gap is narrowing. • Oak alternatives have uses beyond just mimicking barrel aging. Nadalie Oak Add Ins are among the barrel alternatives winemaker Jay Christianson uses to age Chardonnay at his Canyon Wind Cellars in Palisade, Colo. W inemaker Jay Christianson says his "Anemoi" line of wines allows him to experiment with blends and dabble in "pushing ripeness and pushing less traditional" approaches to winemaking. He and Jennifer Christianson, his wife and fellow winemaker, named the wines after the mythical Greek gods of the wind. The Christiansons own Canyon Wind Cellars in Palisade, Colo., which also produces varietal wines and value blends from the winery's 30 acres of estate vineyards in the Grand Valley AVA. For the first vintage of Anemoi, Jay Christianson said he wanted a strong oak component, so he placed oak inserts in new oak barrels to age the Bordeaux blend with the equivalent of 130%150% new oak barrels. "That was really an interesting aging; it came out better than anyone expected, even us," he said. From helping winemakers at smaller wineries compete at lower price points to broadening their oak "spice racks," winemakers are using oak alternatives in seemingly as many different ways as there are alternative products. While many winemakers still say barrels can't be beat, they do report the quality, consistency, flavor and aroma profiles of alternatives have improved, and some say they can depend on oak alternatives almost like barrels. Useful at every price point Christianson said the 2009 vintage was one of the coldest on record for the winery, but it still yielded "big and brooding" fruit that interacted well with the powerful dose of oak. He said he also uses oak alternative products to support his affordable red and white blends and to polish the oak profile of his premium varietal wines. Like many winemakers, Christianson said he first looked at oak alternatives in 2008 as way to save money on his barrel program. He then started incorporating them into other areas of his winemaking. Making wine in Colorado also comes with some unique conditions that make alternatives useful. Christianson said the region has 40 W in e s & V i ne s AP R I L 2 013 such little ambient humidity that the rate of evaporation is quite high—especially for wine he stores above ground such as whites he doesn't want undergoing malolactic fermentation. "Dealing with wood above ground in Colorado is just brutal," he said. Christianson is experimenting with using stainless steel Mueller barrels with StaVin barrel inserts in a range of toast types. Chardonnay fermentation starts in a tank, but at around 12°-10° Brix; Christianson said he racks some of the lot into the steel barrels with inserts. "We're trying to keep it totally traditional while not keeping it traditional," he said. The rest of the Chardonnay lot finishes in the tank as part of the winery's value white blend. Canyon Wind's lower priced red blend also ferments in tanks with oak alternatives. Christianson said he uses Jay Christianson bags of Nadalie Oak Add Ins attached to steel plates with zip ties. The plates rest on the bottom of the tank while the bags are suspended in the wine. The blends, known as 47-Ten in reference to the estate's elevation of 4,710 feet, retail for around $10. Christianson said it would be practically impossible to make a similar wine using barrels and sell it for the same price. For his varietal wines, Christianson said he tastes through the wine lots and determines what flavors or notes are lacking and then adds back those flavors with staves. While he said barrels provide "elegant characteristics" and are still the best for aging, he doesn't hesitate to use staves for each tier of the winery's 5,000-case production. "It's a whole lot easier to insert staves than rack out and change barrels," he said. Less expensive but not a true barrel alternative Jason Bull, winemaker and vineyard manager for the 9,000-case David Hill Vineyards & Winery in Forest Grove, Ore., said he