Wine Tasting - Oak vs. Unoaked

Oak vs. No Oak

Two weekends ago I held a tasting for friends where we compared oaked against unoaked wines. My wife wanted to get a better understanding of being able to distinguish oaked flavours in wine. I bought 4 whites, all Chardonnay; and 4 reds, 2 Pinot Noir's and 2 fuller bodied reds. We tasted them 2 at a time, one oaked and one unoaked and was able to taste back and forth to note differences. Everyone had different favorites with no true winner on the night. My aim was to stay around $20/bottle so that if someone enjoyed a certain bottle they wouldn't have to splurge when buying one.

Prices listed are before tax in BC.

Whites:

1st Pairing:

La Chablisienne, Chablis La Sereine 2012

A pure Chablis with a lemon zest crisp acidity, a slight herbal note and some wet stone minerality that you will see in Chablis. This is the purest form of cold climate Chardonnay that sees no oak. They are known as austere with varying mineral notes that speak of their individual soils. Chablis is a french AOC (Appellation d'origine contrôlée) that lies in the most northern end of Burgundy. Some Premier or Grand Cru Chablis may see some oak, but I can't afford the nectar from those bottles.
$29.49 - BC Liquor
$28.49 - Everything Wine



Toasted Head - Barrel Aged Chardonnay 2013
Wine two in the first pairing was a heavily oaked Chardonnay from Toasted Head. Their name even implies it is going to be oaky. "Toasted Head" refers to the top and bottom of the barrel being toasted (charred). Pretty much all barrels have some level of 'toast' to them from toasting the staves of the barrel in a range from light to heavy. This wine had aromas of banana, pineapple, some peach, and butterscotch-caramelized custard flavours. Definitely lots of oak in this wine with enough acidity to almost balance it. It had a big nose juicy flavours but a pretty sort finish.
$15.79 - BC Liquor

2nd Pairing:

The next white pairing I went with are two from the same Producer, Kim Crawford from New Zealand. We started with 2012 Unoaked Chardonnay from vineyards in Marlborough and Hawke’s Bay on the East Coast of New Zealand.This is a medium to full bodied wine full of ripe tropical fruits like pineapple and melon, with some nectarine, pear and butterscotch rounding out the palate. Much riper and richer in your mouth with riper fruits then our earlier non-oaked wine, the refined crisp Chablis. You wouldn't age this wine but you might be able to get 5 years out of his oaked brother below.
$18.99 - BC Liquor

Pairing from the same producer is a treat and Kim Crawford offers a few of these single parcels series. Their oaked Chardonnay hails from the best parcels of their Hawke's Bay vineyard. This wine is wild fermented; meaning they don't add any predictable wine yeasts to the ferment and allow the natural yeast in the air to ferment the wine. It was aged in 25% new French oak to further enrich the complexity. The nose had apple pie, with peaches and nuts. The palate is rich and smooth with a roasted peach nutty minerality and a length that the unoaked version could't compete with. Both nice wines, but for different occasions or foods.
$23.99 - BC Liquor

Reds

3rd Pairing:

To start the reds we tasted two Pinots from Chile. Pinot like Chardonnay have a real affinity to oak, but can sometimes be overbearing. The first Pinot was Terrapura Pinot Noir 2014 from the Aconcagua Valley. Medium Ruby in colour and had aromas of blueberries and cherries with a hint of earthiness and spice. It was aged in stainless steel and all the grapes came from a single vineyard which is unusual at this price point. There are no distinct signs of oak, just a nice juicy fruit forward Pinot that offers a delicious easy drinking wine with nice subtle complexities. 

$17.99 - Everything Wine

The next Pinot was the Block #21 Pinot Noir Cono Sur. The is another single vineyard Pinot grown 15km from the coast. It spent 11 months in French oak, giving it a deeper, richer colour than the unoaked wine. It has aromas of ripe strawberries and dark cherries. With distinct oak aromas of leather, vanilla, and a hint of toasted cedar. This wine definitely had a bit more complexity to it and a much longer length to the finish. The crowd was split on their favourite of these 2 wines; to me both were good expressions of value Pinot from Chile with the Cono Sur coming out ahead for me due to it's complexity.
$17.49 - BC Liquor
$18.49 - Everything Wine

4th Pairing:

The next set of reds we tasted were full bodied to compliment the light to medium bodied Pinots. The unoaked wine came from the Alentejo region of Portugal, Atlantico - Alentejano, and was a blend made with traditional Portuguese grapes Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz and Trincadeira. These grapes are also used to make the famous fortified wine Port; so to get these as a big unoaked dry wine is a nice treat. It has aromas of wild cherry and bramble fruit, with a little bit of dried herbs and spice. Try it chilled to refresh yourself when you get home; because it's Monday and it's already been one of those weeks.
$17.99 - Everything Wine

Next up was The Crusher Cabernet Sauvignon 2013. This is from the Clarksberg AVA, California, and has 12% Merlot it to balance the wine and give it a smoother finish. It was aged 14 months in 80% French Oak and 20% American Oak barrels. 60% of the barrels were new and the rest were seasoned. Giving this wine lot's of oak on the forefront with it's smoke and savory toasted cedar. Followed by strawberry jam, juicy maraschino cherries, toffee and a nice nook of nuttiness on the palate. Nice nuances for a ripe Cali Cab Sauv, but it definitely had that distinct smokey nature to it I was looking for to show the oak influence.
$21.99 - Everything Wine



We had a lot of fun tasting and comparing these wines. If anybody wants more info about these wines or oak vs. unoaked fell free to send me an email, or leave a comment.

The Flavours of Oak:

French Oak                   = Toast, Vanilla, Nutty
American Oak              = Sweet Vanilla, Coconut
Other Oak flavour        = Smoke, Cigar box, Charred wood, Resinous


Thanks for reading, and happy sipping!