The Difference Between American and French Oak

Picture courtesy of Grand Cata Co-Founder Julio Robledo on a recent trip to Chile

After last week’s mammoth recap of the incredible class on Bolivian wine led by Francisco Roig, we thought we’d give you a break from the long reads. So this week, here’s a quick run through the differences between American and French oak, and how they affect wines aged in them.

Place

You should know a little about where in each country the wood comes from. In the U.S., the best comes from California, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the East Coast from Georgia up. Trees growing in colder climates will have a tighter grain (see the section on grain below).

Much like they have with grape growing regions, the French have established which forests produce the best wood, and take care to maintain them. They have 5 major forests, all near the center of the country: Nevers and Tronçais smack in the middle, Vosges to the northeast, Limousin to the southwest, and Forêts Centrales to the west. All grow mostly Quercus Petraea except Limousin, which producers more Quercus Robur (see “Species” section below).

Flavors

American oak tends toward more intense flavors that can best be described as “dark:” Dark chocolate, dill, eucalyptus, mint, charcoal, tobacco, wood. The one exception here is it’s often also quite sweet, with a punchy vanilla note often accompanied by coconut. French oak, on the other hand, has flavors that tend towards “decadent:” vanilla, caramel, cream, baking spices, albeit with a little less sweetness and more subtlety.

Intensity

American oak flavors are across the board more intense. They also absorb into the wine much more quickly. Therefore, wines with intense flavors and textures of their own do better with American oak. Meanwhile, French oak is more subtle and absorbs more slowly into the wine.

Species

All oak used in winemaking is White Oak. However, in the U.S., Quercus Alba is the dominant type. In France, Quercus Petraea (also known as Sissile Oak) and Quercus Robur are the most common, with Quercus Petraea being considered the finest and therefore the most cultivated.

Grain

Grain is a fascinating concept that has a great deal to do with how a barrel impacts wine. Paradoxically, tighter grain makes the wood more porous, because the tighter grain forms during the summer months as the tree grows. Little tunnels, called vessels, circulate sap during this process. After the oak is turned into a barrel, these vessels remain. Though this does not impact how much air goes in and out of the barrel, tighter grain imparts more aromatic compounds, while looser grain releases more tannin.

American oak has looser grain than French oak, as a rule. In other words, more of the wine can get deeper into the wood of a French. This tends to lead to more aromatic wines, while American oak has a more pronounced impact of the structure of the wine.

Wines aged in American oak also tend to oxidize faster, which brings with it a whole other set of flavors such as dates, nuts and herbs. It also means that more of the water will evaporate out more quickly, so winemakers have to be extra vigilant in making sure they keep barrels topped off. Oddly, though, this phenomenon has less little to do with the grain and how porous the wood is. Instead, other, less understood structural elements of the wood at a microscopic level create this effect.

French oak tends to see less evaporation. It therefore requires less attention over longer aging times. American oak can work wonderfully for long aging, too, it just requires the winemaker to check on the wine and top it off more often. Rioja and Ribera del Duero, where they use American oak as much as French, age red wines in barrels longer than just about anyone.

Tannins

French oak imparts firmer, but silkier tannins, whereas American oak gives more obvious, rougher tannins that will need time in the bottle to mellow out. In both cases, the oak tannins combine with the grape tannins to form a new structure which tends to be more appealing than grape tannin or oak tannin alone.

One final note...

Don’t be afraid of oak! When integrated correctly, it makes good wine special. There’s a very good chance that the wine you’ve liked the most in your life benefited from time spent in barrels. Below are two examples of wines with perfectly integrated oak profiles, one using American oak, the other, French.

Alto de la Ballena Tannat-Merlot-Cabernet Franc 2013 - $23 - Only a portion is aged in American oak barrels, then reblended before bottling. This is a very common approach, as it pushes the flavors of the wood lower in the wine’s profile so they only accent the wine instead of overpower it. The wine aged in the barrel will also be smoother, sweeter and softer than the rest of the wine, which adds overall balance.

San Pedro de Yacochuya Red Blend 2013 - $32- 60% of the wine spends 12 months in new French oak.