Humans are about sixty percent water, and wine is around eighty-five percent water. When you drink water, or wine, you make more of yourself. Skin holds our liquid selves in place, while wine is usually contained in glass bottles. On its way to becoming wine, grape juice may be held in a surprising variety of vessels, and this, to me, is just one of the endlessly intriguing aspects of the winemaking process.

While tasting Burgundy at our staff meeting this week - and yes, one should always taste Burgundy at staff meetings - we discussed the effects of oak aging on the flavors and aromas of wine. This topic is never as simple as it seems. Wood is porous, and the oxygen it allows into the wine, and the gasses it lets out, can change the wine without leaving noticeable woodlike flavors. The effects of a wooden vessel vary depending on its size, age, shape, and how the staves are toasted or treated. American Oak and French Oak, though the same species, grow differently, breathe differently, and impart different flavors, and it’s not uncommon for producers to be insistent on wood sourced from a particular forest to best contain and develop their wines. A related and fascinating aside: a key element of the unparalleled excellence of Stradivarius violins is the consistency and density of the spruce and maple trees which grew during the Little Ice Age, a period of widespread cooling between 1300 and 1850.

Winemakers have also traditionally utilized Acacia, Cherry, Pine, Chestnut, and occasionally in California, Redwood, to ferment and hold their wine, though many prefer no wood at all, opting instead for steel or cement tanks, often lined with enamel or glass. Many use ceramic vessels - some large enough to hide a person - and still others use plastic or fiberglass. Daniel and I once tasted wine fermented in a cow stomach, an uncommon practice I cannot recommend. This is all to say, there are many ways to hold one’s wine, and the effects of this variety are fascinating to compare. As always, here at Oakland Yard, we’ll be sharing our knowledge of the wines we pour, along with our conjectures and theories about what makes it taste the way it does. Come join us for a glass or tasting flight this week. The best container is yourself.

TONIGHT - THURSDAY NIGHT FLIGHTS: ALL ITALIAN reds and whites
2020 Villata Vite Colte Arneis
2021 Agnanum Sabbia Vulcanica Falanghina
2019 Taschlerhof Kerner
2020 Grifalco Gricos Aglianico
2021 Ampeleia Un Litro
2020 Ayunta Nerello Mascalese
Tasting flights $15 from 5-9pm and wines by the glass until 9pm

SATURDAY JUNE 10th: AUSTRIAN TASTING FLIGHTS
2021 Hirsch Zöbing Riesling
2020 Nikolaihof Hefeabzug Grüner Veltliner
2018 Prieler Ried Johanneshöhe Blaufränkisch
2021 Kolfok All Universe Together
Flights $20 from 2-6 and wines by the glass from around the globe until 9pm

Cheers,
Max