Barrels.

Characteristics

Limousin (li-moo-sahn) perfumes and colors the wine (yellow-gold) rapidly with little finesse. Limousin tends to be fairly aggressive and "simple" on the palate, but adds an attractive vanillin note.

Nevers (ne-vere) contributes a spicy, almost cinnamon-like flavor, although it can initially seem aggressive in tannin if not toasted enough.

Vosges (voej) offers a sweet, subtle vanillin aroma that complements a fruity character. Above all, it offers a softer texture on the palate.

Allier (ah-leay) releases its perfume slowly with finesse, and seems to have a spicier oak component. It is well suited to red and white wines.

Tronçais (tron-say) located in Allier, releases its perfumes even more slowly, and offers a high level of finesse on the palate. It is typically the tightest grained French oak, which explains its slower rate of extraction.

Hungarian oak offers very similar flavors to French oak, but its most attractive characteristic is a soft, creamy mouth texture (especially early in the wine's development).

Czech oak has a sweet, nutty flavor with moderate but complex tannins. Most interesting is a floral note, which has been described as similar to mimosa, a sweet flowering tree from southern France.

Russian oak imparts a more intense flavor than French oak, but with a similar flavor profile, and is perhaps not as sweet on the palate.

American white oak is more aromatic and obvious in its wood character. Sensory descriptors range from dill and coconut to smoky and sweet vanilla. Quercus Alba does offer more weight and intensity on the palate, but its overt character sometimes clashes with Pinot Noir.

Oregon oak is quite different from American oak, and descriptors commonly used include toasty, resinous, caramel, coffee, spicy and herbal. It is slightly more phenolic than French oak.


Barrel History

Flavour profiling of barrels are listed on these pages. Below are the tasting notes for over 80 barrels from Jeff Cohn of Rosenblum Cellars in Alameda, Calif. This piece is from Wine Business Monthly and is probably the most concise study of flavour profiling of barrels you can find.

Red Wine Barrels
White Wine Barrels




Above is an example of where the the staves are rendered from a half log, below is an example of where each component is placed to create a barrel.