newsletterOak, metal, concrete, clay or marble: How the vessels utilized in winemaking have an effect on flavourDecember 7, 2022

A brand new luxurious cabernet sauvignon from Tuscany, which was aged in specifically designed marble amphorae, reveals how tendencies and trend proceed to affect wine manufacturing. Fuori Marmo 2019 spent two years ageing inside two 1,750-litre vessels produced from white marble, which reportedly price 100,000 euros every.

Whether or not they’re customary from wooden, metal, concrete, clay and even Carrara marble, there are particular necessities for tanks or vessels used for macerating, fermenting and ageing wine: constructed to be leak proof, a capability to control temperature and straightforward to wash and preserve depend among the many sensible concerns. (For wine producers and not using a direct line to marble quarries, price additionally ranks excessive on the checklist.) Stylistic issues concerning how the container will have an effect on the completed product are additionally an element. Does the winemaker need the richness that comes from utilizing a brand new French oak barrel to ferment and age their chardonnay or would they like to trend a extra delicate, pure model of wine?

These choices matter as a result of the kind of container used to ferment and retailer wine can have a dramatic affect on its flavour and general character. If you happen to place the identical wine in a chrome steel tank and a brand new French oak barrel, there might be variations within the aromas and flavours that will be simple to discern even for the uninitiated.

Stainless-steel tanks are prized for his or her sturdiness and effectiveness. They’re additionally simple to wash and preserve and promote the manufacturing of recent and fruity types of wine that may be bought at reasonably priced costs.

Oak barrels are costly, starting from $200 for used 225-litre American oak barrels to greater than $2000 for brand spanking new French oak barrel. Consequently, they’re solely used for a small proportion of the wines produced all over the world every year. The dimensions and age of those containers have vital affect, relying on how a lot oxygen switch they permit, the surface-to-wine ratio and the age of the barrel. Smaller 225-litre barrels have extra wooden affect than bigger ones, which might vary from 500- to 2,000-litres and bigger. After three or 4 years of use, a wine barrel is impartial — they don’t contribute the identical vanillins, tannins and different elements to the flavour of the wine however proceed to advertise chemical reactions that have an effect on the feel and character of the wine.

Concrete, clay and stone ware are more and more fashionable, flavour-neutral types. They supply comparable ageing circumstances to a barrel however with none oak-derived aromas or flavours. Within the Nineteen Eighties, Nineteen Nineties and early 2000s, outdated concrete vats have been faraway from wineries as cellars have been refurbished and oak barrel ageing turned the style that turned wine critics’ heads. The trendy style prefers winemakers to current a transparent expression of the grape selection and the place it was grown.

How does marble match into the image? The few wineries that use these uncommon and costly vessels recommend it provides a moist stone character to the wine. The discharge of the Tuscan cabernet is one among just a few examples accessible to customers.

One other Italian vineyard, Musella in Verona, makes use of purple marble vessels to age one among its white wines, whereas the main Austrian producer, Domäne Wachau, has been experimenting with containers product of marble since 2018. The marble vat and a bigger, 1,130-litre stone vessel are used to provide the vineyard’s Grüner Veltliner Steinwerk, which was just lately launched in the USA. The vineyard’s director, Roman Horvath, defined in a press launch, “As a winemaker, going outdoors the standard winemaking course of creates wines you don’t typically discover in the marketplace, and the Steinwerk is a novel wine that may be a dialog starter.”

The choice of marble aged wines might improve in 2024 when the amphorae used to provide Fuori Marmo might be accessible for buy by different wineries trying to make the 100,000 euro funding.

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