By the time the Spring equinox occurs, fruit from the 2025 harvest has been in the cellars for several months. In the fall, the grapes were crushed, juices settled and primary fermentation is largely complete. While most white wines will spend their lives in stainless, reds (along with some Chardonnay styles) have been heading to the barrel rooms.

The use of oak barrels is an important part of the “art” of wine production, so one of the key choices in the cellar will have been to determine the best wood (always oak, based on tradition and the expectations of consumers’ palates) container used to age and/or store the wine. Late winter to early spring is the time of the year when decisions about barrels are made. The options are many: American oak (probably from Missouri or maybe Ohio), Hungarian oak or perhaps French oak from one of the traditional five forests: Nevers, Limousin, Vosges, Troncais or Allier.

In the fireplace, oak is oak, but for a winemaker, the forest from which the wood is harvested will make a significant difference in the product that heads to the store shelf or a tasting room experience. Wine aged in and/or stored in American oak barrels with their coarser grains will extract more intense flavors and aromas more quickly than if the wine goes into most of the European oak options. Trees grow faster in the Limousin forests than they do in the cooler Nevers stands. Subsequently, their staves’ (side slats) are more open than the cooler grown forests. Adding more complexity to their decision making: the trees absorb a wide range of characteristics from the soils where they are grown, so each forest makes its own contribution.

Barrel size is important. Typically, a wine barrel or “barrique” holds 60 gallons or less. The volume of liquid versus the surface of the wood will influence the rate and the amount of extraction (flavor and aroma characteristics including, but not limited to vanilla, caramel, toast, coconut, coffee and baking spices).

Additionally, the slow transpiration of oxygen through the pores of the oak is vastly different in a large container versus a small one, or a tight grained oak versus a loose grained wood. For an “oakier” style, the winemaker will use smaller barrels. If the goal is a more neutral style of finished wine, a larger container may be used. In the Grand River Valley, several participating wineries have a “cask” program where very large barrels (300+ gallons each) contain multiple years of red wines.

Then the question of the level of “toast” comes into play. As the barrel is constructed by the cooper (the barrel making artisan), toasting occurs when the wood is placed over open flames to create a light, medium or heavy toast. Each level of firing creates an opportunity for different flavor components. The darker the toast, the less influence of the oak, but the more the wine will pick up smoky, toasty flavors.

Then there is a decision about blending. How long should each variety remain in each type of barrel? Should a portion be back blended with wine that never saw oak? Should wine from new barrels with their more intense, rapid extractions be mixed with older ones?

Additionally, depending on the grape, the oak and the winemaker’s decisions, some wines (mostly whites like oaked chardonnays) see only a few months on wood. Others, primarily bigger reds, will need months and even sometimes years in the cellar before they are released.

And finally, there is the company checkbook to consider. Top of the line barrels run upwards of $1,200 each with American oak sometimes a bit less expensive than those produced in Europe. (As a side note, to save shipping costs, sometimes the European barrels arrive in pieces and parts and are assembled here in the States. But for the cask series, those giant containers cost in excess of $12,000.)

When the price for a bottle of wine is determined, the cost of fruit, bottles, labels, labor, etc., all play a part. However, a significant portion of the cost is dictated by the barrels used and how long the wine must remain in the oak to be ready to serve at your dining room table.

For additional information: dwinchell@OhioWines.org.