In this tough economy, everyone is thinking of ways to cut costs.  One way wineries are cutting costs when it comes to barrel choice, is using toasted oak chips in wine that is fermenting/aging in stainless steel tanks, which costs hundreds less than the oak barrel option.  If the goal is produce a lower price point wine that still retains quality oak barrel fermented characteristics, then the use of oak chips in a stainless steel tank may be very intriguing.

During the aging process in an oak barrel, many compounds are extracted from the wood that adds overall complexity to the wine.  Small amounts of oxygen are also entering the wine through the pores in the wood, which react with the phenolic components of the wine to increase stability and also aroma and mouthfeel complexity.  By using oak chips in stainless steel tanks instead of oak barrels, the resulting wine not only retains similar oak style characteristics that are pleasing to the consumer, but it’s also much faster to produce and far less expensive.

One issue with using oak chips instead of oak barrels for aging wine, is how the consumer will accept the new technology.  Will traditionalists be swayed to purchase wine not aged for months/years in oak barrels?  Will consumers feel the product they are getting isn’t as high of quality?  Only one study (that I am aware of at this time) examined consumer preferences in regards to this issue, while comparing the results to actual sensory analyses by the same study participants.

After analyzing questionnaires designed to determine consumer wine preferences and wine consumption habits, the study found that 55% of the participants would not buy the wine if it were indicated somewhere on the label that oak chips were used as an alternative to oak barrels.  However, these same participants indicated that if they had a chance to taste the wine first and found it pleasing to the palate, they would likely purchase it.

After a sensory analysis of different wines aged in different barrels from different geographical origins and different chips from different geographical origins, the results showed no significant preferences for American oak versus French oak.  Individually, consumers tend to have a strong preference for one over another, however, when considering large sample sizes where half the individuals love the American oak while half the individuals love the French oak, any differences are nullified.

The most important result of the sensory analysis was not only was there no difference between consumer preferences in regards to geographical origin of the wood, but there were no differences in consumer preferences between the wine aged in oak barrels versus the wine aged in stainless steel tanks with oak chips.

These results indicate that producing wine using oak chips is a legitimate way for wineries to cut costs, while still producing quality wines for their customers.  Since there could potentially be decreased sales due consumers’ hesitation about purchasing wine made with oak chips, tastings should be offered to customers to show that the quality has not been altered, thus greatly increasing the chance that the wine will be purchased.

Learn more about this study here.

About The Author
Rebecca Yeamans

Becca Yeamans is the owner/writer of the science-based wine blog, The Academic Wino, as well as the Tasting Room Manager at a vineyard in central Virginia. With a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a Master of Science in Environmental Science, her solid background in science and research allows her to approach wine blogging with a unique style that is both informative to those in the industry, and entertaining for those simply wishing to learn.

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