Oaked vs Unoaked WInes

Think of cooking fish – when you pan-fry or bake it, you are not adding anything to the meat; you’re just changing how the fish is charred.”

Joel Payne, publisher and chief editor of the Gault Millau German Wine Guide, is using this example to illustrate how an unoaked wine lets the purity of the fruit do all the talking. Recently in town to be part of the Singapore Wine Fiesta 2014, Payne held a masterclass to identify the taste differences between oaked and unoaked wines.

“Traditionally, one wanted to taste the grape and region, not so much the flavours that wood would impart to the wine – oak brings in a third dimension to the wine’s flavour profile,” shares Payne.

The provenance of the wood, barrel specifications and how the barrels are made all count. Here, Payne picks out two each of oaked and unoaked wines to demonstrate how wood imparts a subtle richness to the wine.

Unlike a typical Burgundian wine that is rich in flavour thanks to barrel fermentation, the wines from Chablis are often not made the same way, as few producers there use oak barrels. The result is a fresher style. This is a wine where you can taste the true crispness of the fruit, and it is possible because it hasn’t been overpowered by oak influences.

02 McHenry Hohnen, Rocky Road Chardonnay 2013, from Margaret River, Western Australia (Oaked – White)

Still a light-bodied chardonnay with a nose of ripe lemon, the underlying notes of sweet dough at mid-palate are a rich hint that suggests this wine has been matured in oak. In the case of this wine, maturation is achieved in nine months with the combination of both concrete and seasoned oak.

03 Monte del Fra, Valpolicella Ripasso 2011, from Veneto, Italy (Unoaked – Red)

This particular producer puts his wine on skins instead of in oak to give it a more velvety texture, quite like biting into an overripe plum. His insistence on not wanting to have wood influences in his wine is a good example of protective winemaking, where you try to maintain what you already have, rather than add elements through oak barrel ageing.

04 Ferngrove, Orchid King Malbec 2011, from Frankland River, Western Australia (Oaked – Red)

The nose of spiced plums and palate of black fruit are a clear show of an oaked red. Here, the wine is aged in new French and Hungarian oak that impart notes of toasted almond and woody undertones. It is in the barrels that the wine undergoes malolactic fermentation to soften the tannins, resulting in a rich, buttery flavour at the end.