Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/480754
April 2015 WINES&VINES 45 OAK BARREL ALTERNATIVES Saury, USA 1285 South Foothill Blvd. Cloverdale, CA 95425 Ph: (707) 224-2377 Fax: (707) 224-2390 Saury, France The cooperage che .com 100% Integrated fr , Full T 100% PEFC, HAACP, ISO 9001, Veritas Certifcation for Wood Aging and Origin done in the vineyard to make sure your grapes are grown in accor- dance with your wine program. Q How do you match your use of oak adjuncts to a par- ticular grape variety? Joseph: One of the first things is to understand the marketing strat- egy of the wine being produced. If a wine is being targeted to a consumer who wants high impact and big reward, then I will try to tailor my wine style accordingly. If the wine is being marketed as an easy-drinking, approachable wine, then I need to take that into consideration. For instance, there has been a huge consumer demand for Zin- fandels with big, rich flavors. So, I may want to up my level of oak in that blend to 40% new. I will also consider adding some differ- ent toast styles, like convection toasting, which will give me more perceived sweet flavor (less smoke and spice). I sometimes also con- sider adding a little bit of Ameri- can oak in the mix to get more chocolate and coffee for that lon- ger, richer finish. It's really cool— you can work with a supplier and identify all these flavor compo- nents you want and, like a spice rack, they can offer you products they feel hit those desired traits. Q What advice would you give to a winemaker who hasn't used adjuncts but is considering doing so? Joseph: First off, talk with a sup- plier about your desired outcome and their recommended bench trial methods. They usually have samples they send you and a pro- tocol for doing lab extractions or cellar trials. I would recommend StaVin, Creative Oak, Moxon, Nadalié or Innerstave. But there are a lot of good suppliers to talk with. If you have the time and your volume is large enough, do trials in a barrel—stainless being the best, but a neutral barrel works, too. This has been my best experi- ence in replicating what will hap- pen in the tank. There are staves you can insert through the bung, or you can buy infusion tubes that hold the oak beans, or just put the adjuncts through the bung, loose in the barrel. The extraction time is usually two to six months, de- pending on the size of adjunct. You should do it at the 100% new oak rate, if possible, then use this wine to blend, using a control bar- rel (same wine, no oak added). You can make bench samples of different rates of new oak using different oak adjuncts, and that will help you zero in your oak adjunct regime. When doing the cellar addi- tion, be mindful of how you secure your oak in the tank. Again, talk with the supplier about the best method. All too often, bags break and beans end up blocking valves or, worse yet, end up loose and in your pump. When you've secured your oak, be sure your wine is relatively clean and free from lees. I like to have my wines rough- filtered at the least, and I make sure the chemistry is good. There are a lot of spoilage organisms that find all those nice wood sug- ars to be food and can still harm your wine, even though it's in stainless steel. Monitor your tank monthly. Make sure to taste and evaluate your tank. Mixing the tank a couple of times is a good idea, too. There have been occa- sions where the wine extracts more oak than desired. It's diffi- cult to take out the oak you add but easy to add more. A resident of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Laurie Daniel has been a journalist for more than 35 years. She has been writ- ing about wine for publications for more than 21 years and has been a Wines & Vines contributor since 2000. "For finishing the wine and . . . to add flavor and texture, I find that I really like using beans, segments or domino-size oak that is secured in nylon bags."