Issue link: http://winesandvines.uberflip.com/i/629061
February 2016 WINES&VINES 45 pending on initial oak composi- tion and toasting management but also winemaking and aging protocols. To understand and potentially control variation, Jean-Charles Vicard founded a research and development company, Esprit de Dryades, in 2009. Their research has shown that the primary sources of variation occur at three stages: raw material selection, bending and toasting. Focusing initially on bending and toasting, Esprit de Dryades developed a fully automated, computer-controlled system that eliminates the variability intro- duced by traditional methods of bending, open-pot wood-toasting with direct flame contact, human interaction and impact from the outside environment. The patented system has a steam chamber that bends the staves into a barrel shape in four minutes without changing the chemical composition of the wood and a separate closed, radiant- heat toasting chamber controlled by computer within +/- 3° C. The system, which required a large investment and two years to opti- mize, was installed for the 2011 vintage as the standard toasting system for all barrels made by Vicard Group. Variation in the chemical com- position of raw oak wood has been well documented by the scientific community. 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 While the selection criteria tradi- tionally used by cooperages to reduce variability (e.g., width of growth rings and silvicultural practice) provides some consis- tency, these criteria do not relate to the heterogeneity of oak chem- ical composition. 5 To achieve compositional homogeneity, the chemical analysis of every stave is necessary. Near-infrared spectros- copy (NIRS) was utilized to ac- complish this while maintaining throughput. Several hundred staves were analyzed by NIRS, and the results indicate that a large variation in ellagitannin content exists (both inter-individual and according to The toasting system has an inner cone covering the flame and an outer dome that eliminates environmental fluctuations.