To Oak or Not To Oak

One of the questions that people ask me all the time is how long I keep wines in oak barrels. The answers is… depends! There is no formula that I follow. Rather, wether a wine goes into oak or not is based on experience since the type of oak choice is almost limitless. We use American, Hungarian and French oak at San Martino. Within these types, the geographical location of the forests where the oak comes from also make a difference since staves have difference grains depending on the forest of origin. Barrels from American oak from Minnesota provide a different flavor profile than barrels made from American oak from Pennsylvania or Missouri.  In France and Hungary the same exceptions apply so it is important to know where the wood comes from and understand the different nuances that each wood and geographical area contributes to the final product.

But… then we have the aging of the staves! Are they dried and aged for 18, 24 or 36 months? Hmmm… Are they fire or water bent to form the barrels? Each provide different flavor profiles. Then as the barrel is made, what type of toasting do we want? This can be light, medium or heavy but within these we have minus (-) or plus (+). That is, a medium – is different than a medium or medium +. Then we need to decide if we want the entire inside toasted, or just the heads, or just the inner body of the barrel. Of, course we can different levels of tasting in the heads than the body. This is enough to make go nuts!

Every choice made has a positive or negative effect on the final wine. So how do you know? In our case, we read everything that comes across our desk, learn from years of trying different combinations and of course ask those that have been doing this a very long time and have produced great wines. Also, careful monitoring of the aging process is a must! A winery can produce a great wine from harvest to crush and on to press, but if they make the wrong choices in oak, the final wine may not be any good at all or will not be as good as it could be.

One of the most interesting experiments that we are doing at San Martino Winery is the production of very small batches of red wine (50 gals using the same grapes each year) without the use of oak in the aging process. We call this wine our “Family Wine” since it is not for sale. We have been doing this since 2004 and each year we learn more about how to make a better wine without oak. Very extended macerations, different yeasts than normal being used in the fermentation, the right combinations of grapes during the initial stages and several other factors go into making this wine. Although the first batches were not great, we drank them ourselves and our friends liked it too; after all it was free. However, I must say that the current batch made in 2006 finally hit the “bull’s eye”. This new batch is already in the bottle. No detectable sulfites, ph of 3.5 and good acidity bursting with flavors of dark berries and wonderful light aromas with a lingering finish. It is a wonderful table wine and I am now encouraged to attempt a large batch (maybe only 300 gallons) next year. I feel that it is possible to make a good red without oak if conditions are controlled and careful attention is paid. This could be the start of a new trend… who knows!