Wood’s Influence Revealed

For our last tasting of the season we were treated to one of our most informative. The barrel-maker tends to be something of an unsung star in the wine-making firmament and at last, Paul Atwood-Philippe, Commercial Manager of the Tonnellerie de Mercurey, was able to place him centre stage.
The Tonnellerie de Mercurey (Burgundy) is family-owned and lays claim to having the most modern cooperage in the world, following the 2009 opening of their new facility.  The Tonnellerie has its own wood sources and claims this enables a greater consistency in their products, which is a vital decision-making factor for the wine-maker.

Paul started the evening with a slide show, which charted the process of barrel-making from sourcing of the wood and the qualitative differences between the main oak varieties (Sessile and Pedonculé). The Tonnellerie claims that due to the centuries-old management systems employed by French forests, there is a higher quality and consistency of wood to be obtained when compared with other sources of supply.

With aromatics deriving from the wood semicellulose, lignins and tannins as well as the toasting applied, Paul guided us through some of the quality control and decision-making processes that result in the final barrel quality. As a general rule of thumb top-quality barrels will be less toasted. Other factors to be considered in producing the final product include the timing, water use, flame size, exposure time and temperature and size of the chauffette when toasting. In terms of final impact, Paul used the analogy of toasted bread and jam – the thickness of the bread and the level to which it is toasted will impact the flavour of the jam. Indeed, as most OWC members will know, the barrel is significant in the wine-making process for its contribution to microoxygenation and flavour development, with the acidity of the wine extracting the flavours from the wood.

The useful wine-making life-span of a barrel is felt to be about 2-3 years, after which the barrel becomes ‘neutral’. With barrels currently costing around £600 each, this represents a significant cost factor for the wine maker. However barrels may then be sold on to sherry and even whisky producers in turn, with the total working life of a barrel estimated at around 20 years.

After the slide show we moved on to the practical demonstration. First, we tasted three white wines from Mercurey. The first and second wines were both from 2010 and with different levels of toast, the third a blend of the previous two toasts. It was generally agreed the first wine had more aromatics and more roundness on the front palate, while the second had more elegance, length and backbone. The third was felt to be a more rounded ‘finished’ product.

Next came a competition – two red wines from Mercurey, again 2010, with different toasts applied. Could the OWC rise to the challenge and identify them correctly? Resoundingly, yes! The lighter toast was felt to be more acidic and to have lighter strawberry flavours, while the heavier toast was felt to ‘frame’ the fruit better and produce rich dark red fruit notes, as well as producing the distinctive vanilla aromas. A Mercurey Red Premier Cru 2008 was tasted next, once more illustrating the importance to the final wine of a blend of toasts in producing a balanced, rounded product.

The seventh wine of the evening was a Chateau la Riviere Fronsac 2008. A merlot based blend, from Bordeaux’s right bank, the wine illustrated the impact of the special toast and thicker-staved barrels generally employed in Bordeaux. Somewhat controversially Paul claimed that the ‘acceptable’ level of tannins in wines is declining due to the economic influence of the Chinese and their preference for low tannin flavour palates.

Finally we enjoyed a white Beaune 1er Cru from Domaine Jacques Prieur, from older vines and a light toast. It is generally believed that as vines age they produce wines of greater complexity, requiring a less vigorous toast effect.  

HRE