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BARRELS Think about the range of possibilities within a single grape species—Vitis vinifera—and apply that broad-mindedness to oak. Leaving aside genetic mutations, soil and climate can have significant effects on growth rates, grain and the levels of all manner of incidental compounds. If you're making furniture, the levels of aromatic compounds don't matter much. But if you're making wine, then the differences in vanillin and eugenol compounds (responsible for spice aromas and flavors) matter a great deal, and researchers at Montpelier in France and the Australian Wine Research Institute have shown that concentrations of compounds like these vary considerably from forest to forest. This makes it likely that the variations within "French" or Hungarian oak from different parts of the country are as great as the variation between the two broad national categories. Hungarian oak advocates in particular argue that some of their prime forest areas have poorer soils and chillier climates, leading to slower growth and, ultimately, tighter grain, a characteristic much prized in high-end wine barrels. Cooperage quality OK, let's stipulate that central Europe has some great trees. But we're in the market for barrels, not lumber, so the next ques- tion is, how good is the cooperage? The universal view on this point is that Hungarian and central European cooperage started out pretty rough and has gotten considerably better in recent years. "When the Iron Curtain fell," Knox says, barrels were made there as containers—lots of green wood, no aesthetics. They learned what they had to do." Frank Dietrich, whose Blue Danube FRENCH OAK DOMINOS Wine Co. imports wines from all over this zone, says it's no surprise that an industry as young (in post-Communist years) as Hungary's barrel business or even its wine production itself would show more variation in quality than more established sources. At the same time, after years of experience with Hungarian oak at several wineries, winemaker Allen Kinne at Virginia's Chrysalis Vineyards feels that there's much less variability than there was 15 years ago. Paul Frommelt, who represents Trust Hungary barrels for the Francois Frères group, says the category "didn't come out of the gate well 10 years ago, but the quality is getting better." Some of the improvement has come Caroline Hoogenboom Napa - Sonoma Cell. (707) 364-6334 caroline@ermitageusa.com Amy Lee Oregon - Washington Central coast of California Cell. (509) 995-2771 amy@ermitageusa.com Vincent Garry, Sales Director Cell. (707) 225-2105 vincent@ermitageusa.com from the association of central European cooperages with larger, often French- based barrel conglomerates, which have raised standards for tree selection, aging time and techniques, barrel aesthetics and quality control. Several smaller, independent importers also have sprung up in recent years—Zemplén, Vadai and Kalina Cooper Trade, to name a few— with ties to cooperages back home and an eye on developing niche markets through bend-over-backwards customer service. Many of these upstart importers are on the East Coast, where Chrysalis' Kinne says it's sometimes hard to get French barrels, since the major barrel companies are focused on selling in California. Most winemakers I talked to who have Office: Tel: (707) 224-2377 Fax: (707) 224-2390 433 Soscol Avenue Suite B151 Napa, California 94559 - USA 36 Wines & Vines FeBRUARY 2012 put Hungarian and central European wood to the test say the barrels perform very much like French barrels, both in terms of overall quality and contributions to wine flavors and aromas—or at least that European oak is much more similar to French oak than to American. That pretty well echoes what barrel distributors say about their products. "Objectively," says Gary Chappell of Bouchard Cooperages, which represents one blended European source and one boutique Hungarian Parc d'act i v i tés des Ber t ranges - 58400 La Char i té- sur -Loi re - France Tel . + 33 3 86 69 43 79 | FAX + 33 3 86 69 67 47 | www. tonnel ler ie-ermi tage.com