Six Ways to Use a Barrel - Case of Six

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The introductory case answers the question of how much oak. This one asks the harder questions: what kind of oak, and what happens to it over time.

Species is the biggest variable of the lot. French oak is tight-grained and slow to give itself up, contributing spice, cedar and fine tannin. American white oak is looser-grained and far more expressive, rich in the compound that gives wine its vanilla and coconut signature. Neither is better. They are different instruments, and this case puts them next to each other.

Then there is age. A brand new barrel is loaded with extractable flavour. A barrel on its third or fourth fill has given most of that up and works instead as a breathing vessel, softening tannin and building texture while adding almost no flavour of its own. Some of the wines here lean on the first effect and some on the second, which is why a low oak rating in this case does not mean an absence of wood.

This case includes a 15% discount.

The white flight, one grape, three philosophies

Domaine Gueguen Chablis 2025 · Oak 1
Chardonnay with no barrel ageing at all. Green apple, lemon, wet stone, a taut and linear finish. The reference point for everything that follows.

Au Bon Climat Wild Boy Chardonnay 2023 · Oak 6
Santa Barbara, wild-fermented and characterful. Rounder and nuttier, with a savoury edge and a genuine barrel presence that still leaves the fruit in charge.

Danbury Ridge Chardonnay 2023 · Oak 7
Essex, and a wine that wears its winemaking openly. Brioche, hazelnut, toasted spice and real breadth on the palate, held together by English acidity.

The red flight, wood as structure

Maison Ventenac Les Dissidents 'Paul' 2021 · Oak 2
A warmer-climate Cabernet Franc from the Languedoc that was half aged in used French barrels. Notes of ripe blackberry, forrest fruit compote, and crushed violet with a subtle cab franc leafiness. Smooth tannins and a lifting acidity give this wine wonderful balance and drinkability.

Ridge Vineyards Pagani Ranch Zinfandel 2023 · Oak 5
Your American oak reference. Ridge is one of the few great Californian estates to have committed to American barrels, and this old-vine Sonoma field blend shows what they do well: bramble fruit, sweet spice, warmth and a rounded sweetness of texture without the wood ever crowding the fruit.

Marchesi di Gresy Monferrato Rosso 2019 · Oak 7
Piedmont, with the highest oak reading in the case and several years of bottle age behind it. Dark plum, cedar, pencil shavings and dried herb. Taste this after the Ridge and the difference between French and American wood becomes obvious rather than theoretical.

•  ABV
• Country

• Sustainable

• Traditional

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