[question] Question submitted by William Fong, Singapore. What is the difference between ageing with oak chips and oak barrels? [/question] [answer] Depending on the winemaker’s ambitions and the quality being sought after, winemakers can incorporate oak influence into wine using a number of technologies, the most traditional of which is of course the oak barrel. Since the 1970s, winemakers have also had the option of including oak shavings in the tank, which exposes the wine to a comparatively large surface area of oak. However, oak shavings also expose wine to cross-grain cuts of oak, which might introduce raw and sappy influences into the wine. The best French oak casks are made from staves that are split, not cut, enabling the wine inside to be entirely free of such contact. A partial solution to this is to insert entire staves of oak in the wine, using Innerstave̠ technology, which entirely avoids the major risk associated with oak shavings. However, unless oxygen is introduced to the tank to replicate the effects of maturation in oak casks, this is still not an equivalent process to ageing wine in barrel. The solution to that issue is micro-oxgygenation, (or micro-ox). In this process, a controlled amount of oxygen is slowly released into a tank or barrel, enabling the wine to experience the beneficial effects of a gradual oxygenation or maturation. I have tasted many wines made in this fashion, including a number of superbly oaked examples that have never seen the inside of an oak cask. These are relatively new technologies, and winemakers are still learning how best to deploy them. Meantime, with only a few rare exceptions, the world’s best oak-matured wines are largely made using in-barrel maturation. However, new oak casks are incredibly expensive, and the modern technologies are becoming more commonplace as they enable winemakers to deliver a superior level of oak influence and integration in less expensive wines. In my view, this is a case wherein the end entirely justifies the means. [/answer]
