809 Black Diamond Way, Lodi, CA, United States of America, 95240

https://www.oak-wise.com

209-224-5353

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French Oak Mineral Toast

Carefully selected French Oak air dried for an extended period followed by hot water treatment to soften tannins and reduce harshness. Toasting at low temperature limits the development of high notes of spice, smoke, char, ellagic and gallic acid resulting in a profile that is delicate with notes of vanilla and stone fruit, backed with flint, wet stone and a sense of minerality. For use in fermentation or finishing white and red wines.

stave staves french oak mineral toast

Product Release - French Oak Mineral Toast

We are excited to introduce a new stave toast profile, Mineral Toast, designed to bring an enhanced sense of minerality to white and rosé wines. This innovative toast profile significantly impacts the sensory characteristics of wine, influencing its interaction with fruit and other elements during the winemaking process.

Minerality in wine is often attributed to specific terroirs, rooted in the soil and environment where grapes are grown. While traditionally linked to the vine’s interaction with soil minerals, minerality can also be shaped by winemaking techniques—including the use of oak.

Mineral Toast staves utilize carefully selected French Oak air-dried over an extended period. The wood undergoes hot water treatment to soften tannins and reduce harshness, followed by extended toasting at a lower temperature. The gentle process avoids the formation of high notes such as spice, smoke or char, resulting in a delicate profile featuring hints of vanilla, stone fruit, flint, wet stone, and pronounced minerality.

Key Features of Mineral Toast

1. Comparing Mineral Toast Staves to Water-Bent Barrels

Water bending in crafting barrels involves soaking oak staves in hot water to enable gentle shaping without cracking. The result is a smoother, less intense oak influence compared to traditional drying methods. This approach allows the natural flavors of the wine to take center stage, imparting structure while preserving the wine’s fruit and terroir expression.

  • Minerality Impact: The gentler influence of water-bent oak provides a delicate backbone, allowing the wine’s inherent mineral qualities to shine.

2. Extended Low-Temperature Toasting

Toasting the oak over an extended period at low temperatures ensures a controlled release of compounds without the development of intense oak characteristics.

  • Sensory Implications: This method avoids sharp, toasty, or smoky flavors often associated with high- temperature toasting. Instead, it provides structure, pallet weight and volume that enhance texture and minerality, supporting the wine’s freshness without overshadowing its natural characteristics.

3. No Char for Subtle Oak Influence

By omitting the charring process, Mineral Toast staves offer a more neutral oak influence.

  • Sensory Implications: Without smoky or caramelized flavors, the oak imparts structural qualities like enhanced mouthfeel and tannin support while complementing the wine’s acidity and minerality. This approach allows for a cleaner, more focused expression of the grape’s terroir.

Application

The Mineral Toast profile is particularly suited to wine styles and grape varieties that benefit from restrained oak influence:

  • White Wines: Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, and Viognier will showcase enhanced minerality, pallet weight and freshness.
  • Rosé and Light to Medium-Bodied Reds: Pinot Noir, Grenache, Tempranillo, Gamay, and red blends will experience softened oak influence, allowing minerality to shine without overshadowing the wine's delicate characteristics.

Conclusion

The Mineral Toast stave profile is a sophisticated tool for winemakers seeking to highlight the natural minerality of their wines. By utilizing extended low-temperature toasting without charring, this profile preserves fresh, mineral- driven notes while adding depth, texture, and complexity. It offers an elegant and balanced approach to winemaking, enhancing the wine’s expression of terroir and providing new opportunities to craft wines of distinction.


SAMPLES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
809 BLACK DIAMOND WAY, LODI CA 95240
WWW.OAK-WISE.COM
SALES@OAK-WISE.COM
(209) 224 5353

stave staves french oak mineral toast

Mitigating Smoke Taint

Oak Wise conducted a study on the effect of mitigation and amelioration techniques on smoke tainted wine grapes and finished wine. Our objective is to present methods to help mask or balance smoke characteristics in wine by introducing oak ellagitannins or cherry wood tannins at three stages of wine development:

  1. addition before primary fermentation
  2. addition before malolactic fermentation and
  3. addition in finished wine/pre-bottling

Results of the study showed that treated wines contained a significantly lower level of perceived smoke attributes with an enhanced overall quality in finished wine. 

Click here for the complete technical paper: Oak Wise Technical Paper - Mitigating Smoke Taint.pdf





smoke taint mitigation amelioration techniques

Oak Wise's Extensive Product Line of Aqueous Oak Tannins

Are you blending wine and need help improving the final product? Oak Wise has an extensive product line of aqueous oak tannins that can be added to wine up to 48 hours before bottling.
To receive samples of NATAN call our office at (209) 224-5353 or Mel Coronado at (209) 200-1438.For full product range visit: Natural Aqueous Tannins | Oak Wise (oak-wise.com) 

oak tannins tannins aqueous tannins

Oak Wise Products to Ameliorate Smoke Taint

Some feel good news. While Tastry now works with 5 of the top 10 US wine producers and dozens in the top 100, it's satisfying in a completely different way when we can help a local boutique winery save their 2020 wildfire ravaged vintage and their reputation.

The options TastryAi evaluated included carbon filtration, reverse osmosis, enzymatic treatments, non-vintage blends, and the addition of various tannins from Oak Wise products to ameliorate the smoke taint.

tannins winemaking ingredients smoke taint

Oak Wise Launches Unique Infusion Adjuncts and Oak Tannins

Oak Wise is pleased to announce the launch of Unique Infusion Series oak alternates and natural aqueous tannins. Unique Infusion is a line of oak adjunct for the wine and spirits industry designed to provide rapid results at high dose rates over short time periods.

The new products are; Biscuit, Confection, Cookie Jar, Croissant, Pastille, and Spice Rack. Infusion Series is focused on flavor and aroma expressions that can stand alone or be used as part of a blend. All six products are crafted from cooperage quality American and French Oak, seasoned 24-36 months prior to toasting. Formats are available in chips, dominoes and tank staves.

In addition to the adjuncts, we are releasing (NATAN™) – Premiere Biscuit the first in the Unique range of Natural Aqueous Oak Tannins. Our aqueous oak tannin can assist in increasing the aromatics, flavor, and structure of oak characteristics before bottling. Biscuit will be available in January 2022. 

This package contains Unique Infusion oak chips, staves, and NATAN™ Unique Biscuit.

For technical assistance please call Mel Coronado at 209-200-1438 or email at mel.coronado@oak-wise.com


oak alternates tannins natural aqueous tannins

Give Your Wines the Oak Profile They Need with Toasted Oak Dominoes

Age your wines with quality oak barrel alternatives with easy to use oak dominoes packed in 22lb immersion bags. 

Available in French and American oak in our different toasts: House, Classico, HiVan, Complex, Mocha

We recommend adding 1 bag per 1000 gallon of wine for 3-6 months extraction. 

 

 

 

 

Order today and receive 25% off our list price!

Email Mel Coronado to place your order : mel.coronado@oak-wise.com 

Office Phone: (209) 224-5353

 

 

 

 

 

 Oak Wise is a leading producer of quality oak and oak derived products supplying a diverse section of the beverage industry with an extensive range of oak alternates in formats from oak chips to tank staves and barrel inserts. 

Tastry and Oak Wise to Release AI-Assisted Smoke Impact Analysis Program

As part of a collaborative effort with Oak Wise and their combined clients, Tastry is developing a method for minimizing the effects of smoke taint on the finished wine. Through its state-of-the-art laboratories, Tastry will provide testing and analysis services to help vintners quantify smoke taint and apply Oak Wise products for better blending. Having this collaboration at a critical time when wineries are being threatened by wildfires and the impact, they will have on production is crucial.

Katerina Axelsson, CEO of Tastry, said, “Tastry is committed to doing its part in helping wineries navigate what’s expected to be another detrimental fire season in California. We have been helping our winery clients incorporate Oak Wise products into their production for the past year, and we are very pleased to now share some new and very promising artificial intelligence (AI) -assisted techniques incorporating the latest products from Oak Wise to assist winemakers in reducing the perception of smoke taint in the finished wine.”

Winemakers have historically faced significant economic and environmental losses due to the smoke taint-the result of smoke compounds absorption through grape skin. Oak Wise and Tastry both help wineries minimize their damage due to wildfires.

Brian Spillane, Oak Wise Vice President, said, “Many winemakers approach smoke taint by trying to remove the compounds immediately after fermentation, which can be costly and often ineffective. Our company is developing methods that will reduce cost with products and techniques that do not remove or strip the positive attributes in wine.”

Using Tastry’s  Compublend™ algorithm, winemakers can go beyond understanding the extent of smoke taint present in their wines and quickly and easily find out which wines are tainted. With Compublend™, winemakers can utilize consumer palate data to form blending results that maximize value and identify how to maximize salvageable fruit. Oak Wise is also highly effective at masking smoke-affected aromatics and redeveloping the taste of wine after previous smoke treatments.

smoke taint

Mitigating Smoke Taint in Red Wine Using Oak Ellagic and Cherry Wood Tannins

Oak Wise conducted a study on the effect of mitigation and amelioration techniques on smoke tainted wine grapes and finished wine. Our objective is to present methods to help mask or balance smoke characteristics in wine by introducing oak ellagitannins or cherry wood tannins at three stages of wine development:

  1. addition before primary fermentation
  2. addition before malolactic fermentation and
  3. addition in finished wine/pre-bottling

Results of the study showed that treated wines contained a significantly lower level of perceived smoke attributes with an enhanced overall quality in finished wine. 

Click here for the complete technical paper: Oak Wise Technical Paper - Mitigating Smoke Taint.pdf





smoke taint American oak oak ellagitannins

Smoke Taint Amelioration Protocol Utilizing Aqueous Ellagitannins in Finished Wine

Our purpose is to present a method to help winemakers successfully reduce the detection of smoke taint in finished wine.

Contact Mel Coronado for any questions or technical support
(209) 200-1438
mel.coronado@oak-wise.com

smoke taint natural aqueous tannins

About

OAK WISE COMMITMENT TO QUALITY

  • Raw material of high quality sourced from the same forests as for barrels
  • Technical and customized advice by our team of product specialists
  • Consistency achieved by total control of the production process
  • Full traceability guaranteed from raw material to the finished product delivered

We buy oak in France from the same forest auction origins as do all participants in the French Barrel industry who are not sourcing in Eastern Europe. We transport fresh cut oak to the company owned facility in Nivolas Vermelle which lies between Lyon and Grenoble. Our French oak is sourced from the center of France (Allier, Never and Bourgogne regions) and from the Vosges region.

Our American oak is sourced from forests in Missouri, Virginia and Pennsylvania. Fresh cut material is stored in our company owned facility in Winchester Virginia.

Contact

Contact List

Title Name Email Phone Extension
Vice President West Brian Spillane brian.spillane@oak-wise.com 540-931-1965
Vice President East Shayne Lachlan shayne.lachlan@oak-wise.com 540-869-5661
Supply Chain Manager Daniel Dooley daniel.dooley@oak-wise.com 540-974-6668

Location List

Locations Address State Country Zip Code
Oak Wise, Inc. 809 Black Diamond Way, Lodi CA United States of America 95240

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