Description
American Oak has a much more pronounced aroma than French oak. It also imparts more flavors faster, but it mellows sooner. It is used in many big Italian or Spanish red qines as well as Zinfandels and Bordeaux style wines. It makes a bold statement in a Chardonnay.
A note about toast levels:
Heavy Toast: Brings pronounced caramelized, carbonized, and toast flavors quickly. It doesn’t need much contact time. It is most often used in big red wines and has limited use in meads.
Medium Plus Toast: Betweeen medium and heavy toast. It has aromas of honey, roasted nuts, and a hint of coffee. It seems to be the ideal toast level for red wines, so it is probably best suited for the red pyments and bolder melomels.
Medium Toast: Less tannins, but more bouquet, so it will impart more aroma than flavor. It has a warm, sweet character with strong vanilla.
Light Toast American: Coconut flavour
Light Toast French: Slight vanilla flavour
A final word of caution: No matter which form of oak you use, remember, you can always add more oak, but you cannot remove it. When your wine has reached the desired level of oakiness, rack it off the oak and into a clean carboy. If you think more oak or a different oak is needed, follow these steps again.
