The Evolution of American Oak

RE: The Evolution of American Oak

Allegra Angelo — Sun, 04 Jun 2017 16:30:59 GMT

This is an exceptional article (just read it); you answered many of my internal questions. Thank you!

RE: The Evolution of American Oak

Yvonne Cheung — Fri, 07 Apr 2017 04:42:53 GMT

This was excellent, thank you!

RE: The Evolution of American Oak

Kenton Smith — Wed, 29 Mar 2017 21:04:25 GMT

Great research. This might be my favorite article yet here at the guild. And thanks for the shout out to Inglenook. You are right, during the early years, and especially right after prohibition, John Daniel (Inglenook) exclusively used German oak: large vessel, 1000 gallon upright ovals!

RE: The Evolution of American Oak

Richard Peck — Tue, 28 Mar 2017 23:12:57 GMT

Well done! Big thanks and congratulations on your new role.

RE: The Evolution of American Oak

Kelli White — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 17:20:09 GMT

[mention:1b19d7814bb44f0ea481c26df5afb4f5:e9ed411860ed4f2ba0265705b8793d05] Hi Miquel. Thank you for the compliment! I have emailed Paul Draper to inquire about the toast levels but have yet to hear back. As soon as I know, I will post. But in general, yes -- as with wine, it seems, so with oak; the raw ingredients (grapes, trees) may have their own inherent qualities, but the techniques employed by the craftsman can often dominate, making hard to deduce the oak's origin. As far as your forestry comment, I was very specifically researching the history of the forests that feed the wine barrel industry, but yes I believe you are right. It seems that in Europe the various conquering/colonizing countries are all guilty of sacrificing their forests for their armadas, just like how in the US the forests were felled to fuel the mad rush west.

RE: The Evolution of American Oak

Kelli White — Fri, 24 Mar 2017 18:43:05 GMT

[mention:23ebb99bfa5c4fb996b8c168613f4638:e9ed411860ed4f2ba0265705b8793d05] Thanks for the comment. To be honest, I've not uncovered anything that would directly link the composition of American oak barrels to headaches, but if I should stumble across anything, I will let you know!

RE: The Evolution of American Oak

Dan Petroski — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 23:55:02 GMT

Nice work, Kelli. We used some American Oak (via Demptos) in 2005 and 2006 at Larkmead; mostly because it was readily available during vintage years where the crops were heavier than expected. Barrel orders typically have a six month lead time. As for the quality of the barrels themselves, the impact was not a significant detractor as to why we did not renew our purchases in, it was more a decision of choosing one over the other and French oak was more "in vogue" at the time. We'll consider some trials in 2018 and will report back.

RE: The Evolution of American Oak

Miquel Hudin — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 19:37:54 GMT

It's rare that I read a wine piece these days and truly feel the better for having taking the time to fully go through it. Very nice piece [mention:9938ff0d07524fca9fca1d11e7b388d5:e9ed411860ed4f2ba0265705b8793d05] and looking forward to more.

One question, in the samples that Paul had pulled, where they both the same toasting level? Based upon your description, I would have guessed #2 in the first set was the American as well, but have tasted samples from medium high toasted producers like Radoux that could seem downright "American".

Another bit in that as far as I understand, the French protection measures in the 16th century were also brought about as the Spaniards had decimated some of their forests at the same time in building their ill-fated armada and the French thought wiser of this. Just what I'd heard, so it could be wrong.

RE: The Evolution of American Oak

Jessica Waugh — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 18:19:57 GMT

Great work Kelli! This is a great read and perfect timing for an American Oak seminar I am conducting in a couple weeks!

RE: The Evolution of American Oak

Kathy Merchant — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 14:28:20 GMT

Kelli, fabulous piece on an important topic. And congrats on your new gig with GuildSomm. I've often wondered whether the chemical and tannic makeup of American oak is in fact one of the big contributors to the headache discussion. Did you come across any discussion or research on this aspect of oak in your research? Kathy Merchant (www.vinoventurescincinnati.com)

RE: The Evolution of American Oak

Jason Zinger — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 06:36:10 GMT

Great article! Very informative read. Thanks!

RE: The Evolution of American Oak

Vincent Morrow — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 21:50:44 GMT

Thanks Kelli!

Fun fact - Ridge Vineyards even imported Bordeaux wine (Montrose?) by the barrel in the 60's simply to have a vessel for their wine, prior to being American-oak dominant.

RE: The Evolution of American Oak

Bob Lipinski — Wed, 22 Mar 2017 21:16:23 GMT

Wow... fabulous article! Thank you.