{"id":13948,"date":"2017-03-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-19T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.invinic.com\/american-or-french-oak-what-difference-does-it-make"},"modified":"2017-10-05T14:44:45","modified_gmt":"2017-10-05T12:44:45","slug":"american-or-french-oak-what-difference-does-it-make","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.invinic.com\/en\/american-or-french-oak-what-difference-does-it-make","title":{"rendered":"American or French oak: What difference does it make?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you know how important French oak is to fine wine?<\/b> Oak barrel ageing <\/span><\/a>is common practice for all the <\/span>best red wine in the world<\/span><\/a> – and many whites, sparkling and fortified wines too, for that matter. Using oak barrels to ferment and\/or age wine has multiple benefits for the wine itself. <\/span>Oak flavours in wine<\/span><\/a> can give complexity, nuance and distinct character. Many wine regions have developed their signature wine styles due to oak ageing, with <\/span>Rioja<\/span><\/a> being a prime example. So, what was that about French oak<\/strong>?<\/span><\/p>\n

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French oak in wine<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It has long been accepted in fine wine circles that French oak is the gold standard<\/strong>. Many of the great wineries of Bordeaux, Burgundy<\/a> and California all use French oak for their best wines. Many wineries in Spain, Italy and elsewhere in the wine world do so too. French oak is highly regarded, but it\u2019s not the only type of oak out there. It has various competitors, including Austria and Hungary. If there was one other source of oak that could give France a run for its money though, it\u2019s American oak!<\/span><\/p>\n

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How do American and French oak compare?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

There are numerous differences between American and French oak. Let\u2019s look at a number of them in order to try to differentiate between the two.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The origins of American vs. French oak<\/strong><\/h2>\n

First things first, American oak and French oak have some geographical differences. Sure, one comes from the USA and the other from France. Beyond that, French oak largely comes from just five prestigious forest sites:<\/span><\/p>\n