#MyWineAdventure Contest Trivia Question #4

It's that time again, coming to you with another question for another chance to enter to win a #MyWineAdventure trip for 4, with Farm to Glass Wine Tours. 

How much do you know about your wine wood?  Wine wood.... aka oak.  Here's the trivia question and make sure to go to Instagram to answer the question and enter to win another entry for a free wine tour for you and 3 friends!   Don't forget you can still like/tag/answer the first three questions and get extra entries until April 21st!

So here's the question:  Which type of oak tree can make more wine barrels?  Therefore, technically is more eco-friendly?  American oak or French oak?

The Answer:  American oak!  

The grain in American oak allows coopers (fancy word for barrel makers) to make more barrels from the wood than the oak used for French barrels.

Another fun fact: American oak also grows faster than French oak!   

You may ask: Why do winemakers age wine in oak barrels? Great question!

Glass didn't really become a consistent storage vessel until the 1600s so until then, most wines were stored and sold in wooden barrels. 

And, while we’ve outgrown the necessity for barrels for storage and transportation purposes, we love the many flavours oak imparts on the wine, this harmonious union of our delightfully fermented grape juice contained in the carvings by mankind.  

Does oak make wine better?  Much bettahhhh!  (Drag Queen joke for those who know!)

Oak does three main things to wine:

• It adds flavor compounds like aromas of vanilla, clove, smoke and coconut.
• It allows a slow exposure to oxygen, a process which makes wine taste smoother and less astringent.
• It provides a perfect environment for certain metabolic reactions to occur (like malolactic fermentation), which makes wines taste creamier.

Did you guess correctly?

What are your thoughts?

Let me know in the comments below!

*Found this tidbit of info on the Organic Wine Podcast, episode: How to Make Natural Wine with Martha Stoumen. This is a great podcast series, and if you've never heard of it, have a listen sometime. It's right at the beginning of the podcast episode, so it's easy to find.

And as always,

Be Kind. Drink Wine.

xoxo Jess

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