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Written by Dan Gisolfi
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Wednesday, 02 August 2006 |
In a 18-Jul-06 UPI article from Rome, Italy -- Italians want wood chips kept out of wine. Italian farmers and wine producers are calling on the government to take action to keep so-called Pinocchio wine out of the country. Wine producers say the use of wood chips to speed up the aging process will lower standards and threaten Italy’s lead in the sector, ANSA reported. New EU regulations cancel any distinction on labels between wines aged artificially and those produced with traditional techniques. ANSA said farmers’ associations and environmental groups want the government to press the EU into forcing producers that use wood chips to say so clearly on the bottle. “Accepting this regulation would be a betrayal of our wine’s identity,” said Roberto Della Seta, the president of the Legambiente environmental association. “It would lead to the standardization of wines at the lowest level to the detriment of the consumer.”
As a consumer of Old World Wines, I have an expectation about the process and quality associated with the wine I buy from Italy. I agree that as a consumer of Italian wines I too want this information to be expressed on the label so that it does not diminish the DOC value that Italy has established. All over Europe, EU actions like this will continuously impact local traditions and standards.
However, my perspective with respect to Wood Chips or Oak Stick in the Homemade Winemaking Process is different. When we make our wine we do not have the luxury of multiple years of barrel aging. You get 7-9 months in wood at best per year. The purpose of the chips is to accelerate the process given our short fermentation cycle. I highly recommend chips for homemade wine like ours (depending on the wine blend). However, I do not want chips in the wine that I buy from Italy if the DOC label is on it. It's all about expectations!
For those of you who have had the opportunity to sample our WHWC Silver Medal Winning Super Tuscan at Corrado's 7th Annual Competition in Jan06, you should have noticed straightaway the benefits of Oak-Sticks. And for those of you who bought into the 2006 Washington State Merlot Coop, it is my opinion that Oak Sticks took this very dry wine over the top. Trust me this wine was touch and go for a while until Carmine added the Oak Sticks.
For the records, Oak Sticks are not always necessary. In 2006 here is how my team used (or could have used -- in hind sight -- Oak Sticks):
- Cab: Used Chips
- Pinot Noir: No Chips
- Zin/Cab: Used Chips
- Super Tuscan: No Chips (yet I recommended we did)
- Family Traditional: No Chips
- Washington State Merlot: Chips Used to offset tartness
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Next year when you taste your wine during the February Raking, make a decision -- can your wine benefit from an Oak boost for three months to accelerate the Oak flavor beyond what the barrel has to offer.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 02 August 2006 )
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