Winemakers have such a wide choice when it comes to the use of oak; should they use American or French, new or used barrels, light, medium, or heavy toasted, or even oak staves or chips? Let me give a few examples and try to explain such a complex subject in a short article.

In a nutshell American white oak only takes half the wood to produce a barrel as French, and this is because of the way the grains run and the wood is split or cut. So American oak is less costly and it tends to impart more creaminess, vanilla, spice and coconut to the wine. Oak staves have to be heated so they can be bent to form the barrel and depending how much the winemaker wants the flavours leeched into the wine he/she requests light, medium or heavy toasting of the wood (heavy being mostly reserved for whiskey making).

American oak often suits the style of Spanish and Australian reds and indeed our CUNE Crianza 2010 from the Rioja district of Spain uses American oak to age their wine for a year to achieve aromatic balance and finesse. This blend of 80 percent Tempranillo and 20 percent Garnacha is extremely aromatic with some spice notes and the velvety feel that I so enjoy from American oak influence. This wine from one of the finest wineries in all of Spain is yours for $19.85. Robert Parker rates it 90/100.

French oak runs from $1,200 to over twice that amount for a barrel that holds the equivalent of 300 bottles. American $600 to $800. One hundred percent new oak means that it is used only once and if you say 50 percent new you replace every two years, 25 percent new every four and so on. The newer the wood the more it imparts its authority. Because of this heavy expense about a third of the wineries use either staves or chips. Let me elucidate. Staves are about the size of a yardstick and one in about ten gallons of wine (say in a stainless steel tank) will impart the desired flavours. Oak chips are little squares about the size of a dice that are in a “tea type” bag about the size of a shopping bag. Staves and chips expose the entire oak surface to the wine, whereas a barrel of course “wastes” the half that is on the outside. One advantage of a barrel is that it allows some evaporation through its pores (about eight percent) that intensifies the flavour profile.

The folks at Mollydooker, the most awarded winery in Australia, also like the effects of American oak as they feel that it is a match made in heaven when paired with Shiraz. Take for instance “The Boxer” 2013 Shiraz. It is aged in a combination of 50 percent new American oak and 50 percent one-year-old American oak and here is what their winemaker has to say about it; “This Boxer is astounding, so rich and so smooth and so powerful. Succulent berry flavours with luscious chocolate layers as well as liquorice and spice. It is rounded and full on the pallet and the perfect balance of tannins and fragrant oak support the impressive fruit. Once in the mouth, an explosion of blueberry fruit, coffee, toasty oak (from the barrel charring) with a chocolate cream finish”. $30.25.

I did not manage the impossible as we have not really touched on French oak yet so I believe that I will have to do this next week. For instance in September I had the opportunity of trying a 2000 and a 2011 Chablis Grand Cru from Joseph Drouhin and it reminded me of a comment that I once made to a winemaker. I asked her why oak becomes more intense in older white wines. She explained to me that this was not the case at all, but a matter of balance as the fruit faded and gave the impression that the oak had gained strength. She could literally sniff a wine and tell you which forest the oak tree grew in. So next week we will talk of Allier, Limousin, Nevers and the other famous forests of France. Oh and do not worry about American oak running out any time soon as the US Forest Service estimates that there are 5.2 billion white oak trees greater than waist high in the USA.

This column is a paid for advertorial for Burrows Lightbourn Ltd. Michael Robinson is Director of Wine at Burrows Lightbourn Ltd. He can be contacted at mrobinson@bll.bm or 295-0176. Burrows Lightbourn have stores in Hamilton (Front Street East. 295-1554), Paget (Harbour Road, 236-0355) and St George’s (York Street, 297-0409). A selection of their wines, beers and spirits are available online at www.wineonline.bm.