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44 WINES&VINES July 2017 OAK BARRELS & ALTERNATIVES Subtle is Better, but Oak Remains Indispensable for Wine Winemakers discuss how they find oak to match their winemaking styles By Andrew Adams V eteran winemakers typically prefer a subtler oak presence in their wines based on a discussion about match- ing oak to a winemaking style. Jeff Morgan, winemaker and co-founder of Covenant Wines, is even more blunt. "I don't really like oak," he said, "but oddly all my wines see oak in aging or fermentation." For Morgan, what oak barrels bring is texture, a quality that is incredibly important to him. "Whatever goes on in that barrel gives a certain richness, a certain mouthfeel that I don't want in my tank-fermented Sauvignon Blanc but I really do want it in everything else we make." Morgan's Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ages in about 50% to 60% new oak; those new barrels are a mix of Taransaud and Alain Fou- quet French Cooperage, which he said brings a good combination of restrained oak from the Fouquet barrels and a bit more flavor from the Taransaud. He added he also likes aging Syrah in Gamba barrels, saying the Italian cooper- age's barrels tend to have a more "aggressive" and "smokier" profile that does well with the varietal. "In our winery, we try and blend the cooper, the style of the cooper, with the vari- etals in question," he said. The discussion was one of the first sessions of the third annual Wines & Vines Oak Confer- ence held April 26 in Santa Rosa, Calif. Mor- gan was joined by three other winemakers who each presented a wine they thought was a good example of how they use oak. Robert Mondavi Winery winemaker Megan Schofield brought the winery's reserve Char- donnay, which is almost completely sourced from Hyde Vineyards, on the Napa County side of the Carneros AVA. Schofield said the strategy with the wine, first developed by her predecessor Rich Ar- nold, is to use about 50% new Dargaud & Jaegle medium-toast barrels. "I always feel that Hyde fruit to me is very delicate, almost ethereal, and so we have to be very careful not to overpower that." The grapes are whole-cluster pressed and fermented in the barrels with regular lees stirring followed by 10 to 11 months of oak aging, with most barrels going through ma- lolactic fermentation. The Dargaud & Jaegle barrels are built with water-bent, medium- toast staves. Schofield said she also uses about 10% Taransaud barrels that tend to REBECCA ARNN Four veteran winemakers taste through wines with a variety of oak treatments this April.