Page 125 - Terčelj, Dušan. 2015. The Culture of Wine in Slovenia. Edited by Aleš Gačnik. University of Primorska Press, Koper.
P. 125
Recognising a wine
For the production of high quality red and white wines large, old oak barrels are used.
With these, there is no leaching of aromatic substances otherwise occurring during the
heating of staves. The wood facilitates only the slow input of air necessary for the oxidation
processes involved in the ageing of wine. For the barrique method of wine production new
small oak barrels (226 litres) are used, as is the custom in the production of red Bordeaux
wines. In these, tannin and aromatic substances leach out from the wood into the wine.
This method has been known in France for a long time and is used for the production of
high quality Burgundy and Bordeaux wines, but they are not classified there as barrique
wines. This identification has become popular recently in winegrowing countries wanting
to imitate the special French method of production in order to achieve a higher reputation
and price for their wines.
In the production of white barrique wines, the wine is after fermentation left on fine lees
in small barrels. The lees are regularly (initially every other day) mixed with the wine. Yeast
has polymer, polysaccharide, glucan and mannoprotein walls. When the yeast dies, these
transfer to the wine, which becomes richer in the colloids that bind to phenols. With this
method, wine has fewer polyphenols than wine in steel vessels and has a reduced flavour
of wood; it is also lighter and less tart. In the maturation of wine on lees the oxidation-
reduction potential is lowered, as the lees act reductively. Aromas from the heated wood
enter the wine.
Only rich and full-bodied wines with high extract are suitable to be processed as red
barrique wines. With this method, wine is particularly rich in aromatic substances. Due
Wooden barrique wine barrels:
wine cellars in the Goriška Brda and
Jareninski dol (Dveri Pax), 2006.
Photos: Staša Cafuta
to oxidation-reduction processes, the composition and quality of wine are altered. The
wood does allow air through, which affects the maturation of the wine, enriching it with
polyphenols. Soluble tannins, such as gallic and cinnamic acid bind the oxygen dissolved
in the wine. Red wine matures slowly in new oak barrels, for a year or more, getting richer
in the aromatic polyphenols described above.
121
For the production of high quality red and white wines large, old oak barrels are used.
With these, there is no leaching of aromatic substances otherwise occurring during the
heating of staves. The wood facilitates only the slow input of air necessary for the oxidation
processes involved in the ageing of wine. For the barrique method of wine production new
small oak barrels (226 litres) are used, as is the custom in the production of red Bordeaux
wines. In these, tannin and aromatic substances leach out from the wood into the wine.
This method has been known in France for a long time and is used for the production of
high quality Burgundy and Bordeaux wines, but they are not classified there as barrique
wines. This identification has become popular recently in winegrowing countries wanting
to imitate the special French method of production in order to achieve a higher reputation
and price for their wines.
In the production of white barrique wines, the wine is after fermentation left on fine lees
in small barrels. The lees are regularly (initially every other day) mixed with the wine. Yeast
has polymer, polysaccharide, glucan and mannoprotein walls. When the yeast dies, these
transfer to the wine, which becomes richer in the colloids that bind to phenols. With this
method, wine has fewer polyphenols than wine in steel vessels and has a reduced flavour
of wood; it is also lighter and less tart. In the maturation of wine on lees the oxidation-
reduction potential is lowered, as the lees act reductively. Aromas from the heated wood
enter the wine.
Only rich and full-bodied wines with high extract are suitable to be processed as red
barrique wines. With this method, wine is particularly rich in aromatic substances. Due
Wooden barrique wine barrels:
wine cellars in the Goriška Brda and
Jareninski dol (Dveri Pax), 2006.
Photos: Staša Cafuta
to oxidation-reduction processes, the composition and quality of wine are altered. The
wood does allow air through, which affects the maturation of the wine, enriching it with
polyphenols. Soluble tannins, such as gallic and cinnamic acid bind the oxygen dissolved
in the wine. Red wine matures slowly in new oak barrels, for a year or more, getting richer
in the aromatic polyphenols described above.
121
