"Tom S" > wrote in message >...

---snip

> I did a long term (>15 years) study on this, with identical wines aged
> separately in new French and American (fire bent) oak barrels. The American
> oak aged wine smelled the best, but the French oak aged wine _tasted_ best.
>
---snip

It is interesting that you also have noticed the smell of American
oak. My experiment is going something like this. 1 Gibbs Bros 10g
(3rd use) I have Zinfandel and am topping up with exactly the same
wine (bottled). Another of the same make and age I have added Syrah as
a topping wine.

On the floor I have 2 – 5g jugs with the same Zin, one never added any
oak to, but the other I put in a mix 50/50 american/French chips.
There is no question that the wines aged in the barrels are by far
more superior. Thicker somehow, which I believe is because of the
evaporation of the wine.

I also have a French 13g barrel with the same Zin. This wine taste
better, but the smell from the wines in the American Gibbs Bros smell
better. All the wine was original from the same fermentation vat.

My intention is to dump the wines in the carboys into barrels as soon
as one is empty. I also asked Seguin to make up some mix American ends
to stave of French oak barrels. I think this might be the way to go.
I think for reds which is what I concentrate making, the wine needs a
touch of American oak as well.

SG Brix