However before we leap headlong into the comparatively new stainless-steel barrels and their impact on aging white wine, it is essential to have a grasp on oak aging. Firstly we must ask ourselves, what’s the point of aging wine? Wine Magazine discusses that the objective of aging white wine in oak barrels is to make the drink more tasty. The result of the wood in direct contact with the white wine quite actually changes the smell and taste of the drink on a basic level, one that a majority of red wine drinkers find widely enticing. Wood barrels also offer the red wine a better tannin structure, help to retain its color, and permit red wines to establish secondary scents so that they age better, have a longer service life, and end up being more nuanced (by means of Bestheim).
There are several different decisions to make when choosing what sort of barrels to utilize on your batch of red wine. Food & & White wine states that there is everything from the wood’s native land (French, Hungarian, American, and so on) to the age (brand-new and neutral) to the toast (light, medium, medium plus, and heavy) to pick, and what winemakers pick to use will have extremely different impacts on their item.
According to Red wine Folly, oak barrels give white wine flavors such as notes of vanilla, clove, and smoke while reducing oxidation (smoothing it out), and for gewurztraminers, they can even create a buttery, creamy particular most frequently noted in white wines like Chardonnay.