Miguel Torres and other wine producers around the world are experimenting with Chinese oak.
Rioja cooperage Tonelería Magreñán sources the wood from a forest in Mongolia.
Spain's Miguel Torres is reporting 'interesting' results from its early experiments with a few barrels made from quercus mongolica, while other wineries in Italy, Bordeaux and the US have also bought the wood from the cooperage.
The company joined forces with a Chinese partner to import the oak three years ago, curing the wood and then storing it until it was ready for use this year.
Torres technical director Mireia Torres said the company had used the barrels for fermentation, partial malolactic fermentation and maturation on lees for a Chardonnay from the Upper Penedès area, source of Torres' Fransola Sauvignon Blanc.
'We experiment on everything – it's in our mission,' said Torres. 'When we heard about Chinese oak, we asked a supplier for a couple of barrels.
'The wine aged with Chinese oak has turned out to be quite interesting. It offers a very good aromatic and fruit intensity. There are fine toast notes, and some vanilla and coconut notes, similar to American oak.'
It is less complex on the palate than wine aged in French oak, she said.
Chinese oak is currently 5-10% cheaper than French oak. Torres did not say if the company would begin using it more extensively.
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In Oxford Companion to Wine we find the folowwing: "According to research done by Backman and Waggener of the University of Washington (US) in 1988, the former Soviet republics had approximately 9.7 million ha/24 million acres of oak, of which around 3.1 million are located in the far eastern region, close to the Pacific ocean. This is Quercus mongolica, not a species used for cooperage."
Are you sure it's the forest that's in Mongolia (which is not China) or it's the oak that's called Mongolian?
Bisso Atanassov, Moscow, Russia
Richard Woodard writes It's my understanding that the oak is sourced from Mongolia as a geographical region, which is partly in the People's Republic of China. The OCW simply says that quercus mongolica 'isn't used' for cooperage. Maybe that's for purely historical reasons, rather than because it's unsuitable. Hopefully the experiments currently under way will clarify the situation.
I can just imagine the reviews as the first wines come to market: "Chateau Yak Yurt 2011 Gobi Desert Cabernet Sauvignon. Deep colour with sandy lights, yak-pee nose. The Mongolian oak imparts a subtle flavor of sunbaked Bactrian camel. Long pebbly finish. Best drunk never."
Lewis C Tishoff
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In Oxford Companion to Wine we find the folowwing: "According to research done by Backman and Waggener of the University of Washington (US) in 1988, the former Soviet republics had approximately 9.7 million ha/24 million acres of oak, of which around 3.1 million are located in the far eastern region, close to the Pacific ocean. This is Quercus mongolica, not a species used for cooperage."
