Putting Flavors into Words: Oaky

The next group of wine tastings is all about putting the flavors you taste into words.  The four main adjectives that are used to describe wines are dry, crisp, oaky and tannic.  I am to taste two wines from each category, one having that specific characteristic and one that is similar but does not have that characteristic (for example, oaky chardonnay and non-oaky chardonnay).  Because this would require purchasing and tasting 8 bottles of wine, I decided to break this tasting up as well. 

This week my husband agreed to participate in the tasting with me and we decided to taste from the oaky category.  Andre Immer Robinson gives a list of wines that she recommends and out of this list I chose a 2008 Jadot Macon-Villages from France (a Chardonnay with no oak flavor) and a 2008 St. Francis Chardonnay from Sonoma County (an oaky chardonnay).

                   

Robinson likes to think of an oak barrel as a marinade for wine.  It is a method that a winemaker can use to put their own spin on the wine.  Oaking can be done in one of two ways.  The wine can be stored in oak barrels during the fermentation process or the wine can be placed in oak barrels to age.  Each of these methods will infuse the wine with oaky characters.  The more the wine is in contact with the oak barrels the more oakiness it will be infused with.  It can add aroma, flavor, body and color.  Oak can also increase the cost of the wine due to the higher production cost but, in my opinion, it is well worth it.  

In the picture above, the French non-oaky Chardonnay is on the left and the California oaky Chardonnay is on the right.  Right off the bat you can see the wine on the right has a deeper golden color.  This carried over to the aroma as well.  The French wine smelled very fruity while the California wine had a more intense fragrance.  The non-oaky Chardonnay seemed to be a little bit on the dry side, but it was still full bodied.  This didn't even taste like a Chardonnay to me because I have always chosen California Chardonnays.  It was the Chardonnay grape base without any added flavor.  The oaky Chardonnay had a more intense depth of flavor.  It seemed to be more full-bodied than the French wine and coated my entire mouth with wonderful flavor.  My husband said that is was "velvety rich," and indeed it was.  Both of us enjoyed the French Chardonnay but preferred the oaky Chardonnay.  The oak just seemed to pump up the volume.  Needless to say, we polished off the St. Francis wine that night!