"Glen Duff" wrote in message
...
Tim,
Snip of useful information on French and American Oak.

There have been large quantities of wine consumed by the coopers and
winemakers while arguing the relative and subjective merits of oak barrels
from different regions of France and the rest of europe. Of course like
all ongoing discussions, there are few hard, fast answers.

Cheers,

Glen Duff

Hi Glen,
I too have consumed much wine while pondering the merits of French and
American oak. Also, I agree that one can't overlook the cooperage, I am
sure it has a profound impact on the quality of the barrel. What I have
found more surprising is not the difference between the American and French
oak, but the difference between american oak barrels that have fermented a
wine, versus those that haven't. The oak flavors appear to me to be quite
different (although this is from an n = 4!) I vaguely recall some
speculation(s) on what the fermentation does to a barrel, but I can't recall
what they were.

Thanks for the information.
Tim