Oak

Family of trees much associated with wine.

Oak is considered the best material for construction of barrels for fermenting or ageing wine. It has the necessary mechanical properties for cooperage and, when new, imparts a pleasant flavour to the wine. A by-product of barrel-making is oak chips, and recently some winemakers have started to use these to impart oak flavour to wines without incurring the high cost of buying barrels. Finally, the bark of the cork oak is the source of the traditional closure for wine bottles.

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