A guide to oaked and unoaked wine Many wine drinkers have a strong preference for either oaked wines or unoaked wines; people seem to love one and hate the other. It is important to differentiate between oaky wines with a strong taste of oak that appeal to a small proportion of wine drinkers and oaked wines. The latter have been fermented and / or aged in oak and may have no discernible wood on the palate or nose. Over-oaky wines like heavily-oaked Californian Chardonnay and commercial style Rioja, popular up till relatively recently, have not helped the reputation of oaked wines in general. So this guide looks at how wood affects wine, why and when oak is used in winemaking and how to tell oaked wines from unoaked wines. And, if wines matured in barrel are not your bag, there are also some tips on how to avoid them.  How oak affects wine Oak can affect wine in a number of different ways. It can obviously affect the aroma and flavour of wine – but importantly, it does not have to affect the aroma and flavour. It can also have an impact on the colour, tannins and structure of wine and it can encourage clarification of the wine, with time. Aromas & flavours from oak Firstly though, let’s take a look at the aromas and flavours from oak that can be distinguished in wine. Vanilla is probably the flavour that first springs to mind and this comes from vanillin in the wood itself. Many of the other flavours come from toasting the barrel, a process used primarily to make the wood flexible enough to shape it but also to get rid of any bitter, green, raw wood flavours and to release other more palatable flavours. The stronger the degree of toasting, the more intense the flavours.  Lighter toasting shows spices like cloves and nutmeg with more intense toasting leading to flavours like dried fruit, dill, coconut, caramel, cocoa or chocolate, coffee, toast, smoke and even burnt wood (flavours like those depicted in the left hand side of the image below). This wide range is why wine aged in barrel is often described as having complexity.     The right hand side of the image depicts the fresh fruit aromas likely to dominate in a wine that has not been fermented or aged in barrel. Of course wine produced in a stainless steel vat can also be complex but the complexity comes from the grapes, the influence of the soils and the terroir in general and from the production processes such as maceration – where the grape juice is left on the skins – and lees ageing – where the wine rests on the dead yeast after fermentation.      Colour from oak The longer white wines rest in oak, the darker they become. Chances are a deep yellow coloured white wine will have been fermented and / or aged in barrel although lees ageing can also make a white wine darker. Ageing wine in oak stabilises the colour of red wine  rather than changing it.     Tannins & oak Tannins in wood can transfer into wine though mainly if new barrels are used and so winemakers have to monitor the affects carefully to avoid over-tannic wines. However, although oak is watertight – and wine-tight! – it does allow a tiny amount of oxygen to enter the wine and this slight oxidation helps to soften the tannins and make the wine rounder and smoother. It is these tannins and structure that give a wine the ability to age well. Tannins from oak can also assist in development of polyphenols, the many naturally-occurring compounds that affect the colour, taste and texture of the wine.   Body & texture from oak In addition to the softening of wine in barrels through subtle oxidation, there is research to suggest that micro-organisms in the wood contribute to the smooth texture and elegance of the wine. Certainly it is known that American oak is relatively high in certain organic esters that give wine a creamy texture. In brief, oak brings more complexity to wine. In an unoaked wine fresh fruit flavours dominate, the body is likely to be lighter, tannins will be low and the wine is unlikely to be particularly age-worthy. Most (well-made) oaked wines will have fresh fruits balanced with the flavours from the oak; tannins will give the wine structure but should not be too harsh or mouth-drying and the wine will have a fuller body and smooth mouthfeel. How oak is used in winemaking   Oak is widely used in wine making and it can enhance many wines – though not all. Care has to be taken not to overpower the wine’s natural flavours and aromas. In fact most wines will have spent some time in an oak cask but there are a large number of variables which mean that the influence of the oak ranges from high to practically zero and that the impact is on different aspects of the wine. Choices for the winemaker about using oak barrels Winemakers can influence the colour, aromas, flavours and texture of a wine if they choose to: 1) use oak as a fermentation vessel or not The wines in my portfolio that I describe as unoaked have not been fermented or aged in oak just so that you can be sure of their complete unoaky provenance (some other retailers will describe wine fermented in oak but not aged in oak as unoaked). But don’t worry too much about wine fermented in oak – many wines are but the vessels are usually very large and very old so the effects on taste are very subtle, if noticeable at all. There are other advantages however to fermenting wine in oak, even if the oak vessels are large and old… Large oak vats or casks are often used for fermentation as it is believed that oak flavours are better integrated at that stage in the