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V I N E YA R D & W I N E RY M A N A G E M E N T 5 7
Many of these changes, say
manufacturers, have come from
the winemakers themselves, who
have worked with the oak alter-
n a t i v e c o m p a n i e s t o i m p r o v e
the products. Manufacturers say
they've been given good advice
from winemakers about what's
needed from alternatives, and that
has shaped many of their product
offerings.
"Winemakers are more open to
oak alternatives than ever before,"
says Harrop. "There's always an
old guard that has its doubts [about
new products and processes], but
there's a new generation of wine-
makers who don't have the same
fear of the unknown."
There are several reasons for
t h i s , s a y m a n u f a c t u r e r s . F i r s t ,
those younger winemakers don't
see alternative oak in the same
light; it was an established prac-
tice when they went to school,
and they were taught it was anoth-
er tool in the box. Second, the
over the years; though it wasn't dif-
ficult to find winemakers to inter-
view for this story, there were still
several who didn't want to discuss
the subject.
Still, as Nadalie says, "Even if
there's still some sort of 'taboo'
in the use of alternatives among
some winemakers, it does look
like the future is going toward
their use."
This wouldn't surprise anyone
who's used alternative oak, seen
the improvements in the prod-
ucts available and experienced the
increase in quality that it brought to
their wines.
Jeff Siegel, the Wine Curmudgeon,
is a nationally known wine writer
whose blog is one of the top 100
wine sites in the world. He writes
about wine for a variety of trade
and consumer publications.
Comments? Please e-mail us at
feedback@vwmmedia.com.
upsurge in winemakers needed to
work for the biggest wine compa-
nies has also changed attitudes.
If you're working with $10 or $15
wine that only gets oak alterna-
tives, you're naturally going to be
less worried about it.
"The attitude of winemakers has
absolutely changed," says Mur-
rell. "It's not nearly as hard to get
your foot in the door. I hear a lot of,
'This is what we're looking for,' and
they're less reluctant to hide that
they're using it."
S m i t h h a s s e e n t h i s , t o o :
"Winemakers are becoming more
sophisticated in understanding
the difference between the vari-
ous kinds of alternative oak and
what each can do," he says. "They
understand there's a difference
between chips and staves and saw-
dust, and how to take advantage of
those differences."
This doesn't mean that alterna-
tive oak has completely shed the
stigma that's been attached to it
Barrel Builders
707-963-9963
www.barrelbuilders.com
Black Swan Cooperage, LLC
218-237-2020
www.blackswanbarrels.com
Bouchard Cooperages
707-257-3582
www.bouchardcooperages.com
Creative Oak
707-746-5704
www.creativeoak.com
evOak by Oak Solutions Group
707-259-4988
www.oaksolutionsgroup.com
Fine Northern Oak
707-307-6228
www.finenorthernoak.com
Innerstave
888-996-8781
www.innerstave.com
Modern Cooperage
866-519-6301
www.moderncooperage.com
Nadalié
707-942-9301
www.nadalie.com
Oak Infusion Spiral by The Barrel
Mill
800-201-7125
www.infusionspiral.com
OCI
800-782-8310
www.oakchipsinc.com
Oenosylva
707-224-2377
www.oenosylva.com
Oregon Barrel Works
503-472-8883
www.oregonbarrelworks.com
Pronektar (A Division of Radoux)
707-284-2888
www.tonnellerieradoux.com/pronektar.htm
XTRACHÊNE
707-495-6663
www.xtrachene.fr
Tonelería Nacional USA, Inc.
707-996-5600
www.toneleria.com
StaVin Inc.
415-331-7849
www.stavin.com
The Boswell Co
415-457-3955
www.boswellcompany.com
OAK ALTERNATIVES SUPPLIERS
