Ask Decanter
Each month our experts answer your burning wine questions. Email your queries to editor@decanter.com
FROM BARREL TO BOTTLE Your coverage of the Bordeaux 2023 en primeur campaign led me to wonder how my Bordeaux wine will change between these in-barrel tastings and release in bottle. Sarah Anderson, by email
Panos Kakaviatos, Decanter contributor and en primeur correspondent with Georgie Hindle, replies: Tasting hundreds of Bordeaux barrel samples in April this year, one wondered how the 2023 vintage will perform once bottled. Will wines end up oaky? Too tannic? Just right? Boring? Is there a crystal ball to know for sure? Most estates certify a ‘representative barrel sample’ (échantillon, as pictured), usually coming from a new oak barrel, when the annual spring tastings occur, but some make the proviso that it’s not the final blend. Without fail, each year someone whispers, ‘You realise that some châteaux have you taste only the most successful samples’. But in the 20+ years that I’ve been barrel tasting at en primeur, most samples prove to be an honest reflection of how the wines could perform once in bottle.
Assuming a representative red sample is selected, how will 18-22 months of barrel ageing affect the wine once bottled, considering the use of older oak and an increasing use of other ageing vessels, such as terracotta amphorae?
Ageing wine in barrels effects two transformations: (i) ‘micro-oxygenation’ allows a controlled amount of oxygen to interact with wine, shaping its tannic profile; and (ii) tannin from the oak itself interacts with wine tannin. The use of more neutral amphorae results in less oak tannin, but most estates still age wine in some new oak.
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Denne historien er fra August 2024-utgaven av Decanter.
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A Resource for the World? - Argentina is unique in the genetic diversity preserved in much of its vine material. With climate change and disease posing increasing threats worldwide, Catena Zapata winery is asking what lessons can be learned to protect vineyards within and beyond the nation's borders
Argentina is unique in the genetic diversity preserved in much of its vine material. With climate change and disease posing increasing threats worldwide, Catena Zapata winery is asking what lessons can be learned to protect vineyards within and beyond the nation’s borders
Great Cabernets of South America
Other varieties may hog the limelight across South America, but the world’s most popular grape for red wines has played a critical role in the continent's wine heritage. We trace Cabernet Sauvignon’s story here, and recommend 16 benchmark wines to try
PROVENCE by train and bike
With rail links to Paris, Nice, Marseilles and beyond, a vast network of cycle paths and quiet roads, and a plethora of historic wine estates, Provence is an ideal destination for an eco-friendly, car-free and carefree) holiday
IN THE MIX
These days most of the world’s vineyards are planted to just a single variety, but what happens when multiple varieties are planted, harvested and blended together?
Malvasia A BUYER'S GUIDE
If ever a grape was hard to pin down, it'd be Malvasia. Indeed it’s not even a single grape variety. In all of its many varied, and often completely unrelated guises, it has been the mainstay of popular wine styles across the centuries. Our expert takes a closer look...
RIBERA ADOPTS THE NEW OLD WAYS
It’s not so much a new direction for winemakers in Ribera del Duero, but a growing recognition that traditional methods and wine styles set aside by the previous generation can now provide a way ahead to revitalise the region
Roussanne around the world
Up for a challenge? For winemakers as much as wine drinkers, getting a handle on a mercurial grape such as Roussanne isn't easy. But wherever it's grown, when the balance is right, it truly repays the effort
Napa Cabernet 2021
There's a lot of excitement about this vintage, in which conditions were relatively calm and temperatures stable through summer. Ongoing drought reduced yields but intensified flavours, but it means quantities are down and you may need to act fast to secure top wines. Our Napa correspondent selects 60 great wines from more than 500 that he tasted, with many very high scores
10 reason to discover Uruguay
Squeezed between Brazil and Argentina on the Atlantic coast, Uruguay has mostly flown under the tourist radar - until now. Once dubbed 'the Switzerland of the Americas', it's a welcoming country that has much to offer the travelling wine lover
Leo Erazo
The old vines and special terroir of Itata, southern Chile, have beena source of inspiration for this intrepid winemaker. The 2023 fires were a setback, but his commitment to this ancient wine land is undiminished
