Cost-Saving Alternatives to Oak Barrels
While using oak barrels is popular, winemakers understand the high cost of new oak barrels and must consider the final margin available when the wine is sold. Reduction in cost coupled with increased control resulting from the use of stainless steel tanks, including better temperature control has supported the use of oak alternatives.
Oak alternatives in steel tanks introduce an oak element early under circumstances that are more controlled. The use of oak adjuncts during élevage, is complemented when micro-oxygenation also comes into play to mimic the gentle aeration of wine in barrels.
We Stock Quercus Oak Alternatives
Produced at the Trust Hungary Cooperage, the largest cooperage in Eastern Europe, Quercus sources oak of the highest quality from sustainable forests in France, Hungary, and America. All of the oak used to produce Quercus products is sourced from barrel stave quality oak from within the Francois Frères group stave mills to ensure a consistent source of the highest quality wine oak available.
Seasoning takes place in a unique microclimate aging yard in the center of Europe for 3 years prior to production. This special seasoning contributes to the elegance of the oak’s sensory profiles.
Our Range of Quercus Oak Alternatives
All Quercus oak alternatives are available in American oak, French oak, and Hungarian oak varieties, with various levels of toast to match your winemaking aspirations. Provided are Quercus’ recommendations on the dosage or rates of application to be used with each product, of course, you can tailor these to suit your winemaking needs.
Tank Staves
Quercus sources the oak for our Tank Staves from stave narrows and prisms formed during the production of our world-class barrels. They are a convenient way to add oak to your stainless steel tank.
Tank staves come in various toast levels including light, medium, medium plus, and fire toast.
Dosage of 1 set of tank staves per 300 litres is set to replicate 100% of new barrel impact. Recommended contact time is 3-6 months.
Oak Chips
Quercus Oak Chips are a multi-faceted winemaker’s tool. They are cost-effective and can add attractive oak flavours and aromas to wines over a short period of time.
Oak chips come in various toast levels including untoasted, light, medium, medium plus, and heavy.
Quercus recommends a dosage rate of 1-5 grams per litre for aging and 1-2.5 kgs per tonne for fermentation. Recommended contact time is 1-week to 1 month.
Oak Bullets
Quercus Oak Bullets offer a protracted extraction time and more refined aromas.
Oak bullets come in various toast levels including light, medium, and medium plus.
Quercus recommends a dosage rate of 1kg to 300 litres. Recommended contact time is 1-3 months.
Barrel Flow Sticks
Barrel Flow Sticks offer a convenient method of introducing fine toasted oak to any neutral barrel by way of the bung-hole.
Oak bullets come in various toast levels including light, medium, medium plus, fire toast, and combo (80% toasted, 20% untoasted).
The dosage of our flow sticks is set to to replicate 50% of new barrel impact. Recommended contact time is 2-4 months.
Eco-Impact Staves
A new innovation, Eco-Impact staves are an environmentally friendly solution for your wines. The patented design allows for much more surface contact when compared to a conventional stave.
This allows for faster oak integration, imparting our complex character and structure to your wines at an increased rate. Or it opens up the door to using fewer staves, less oak is needed to produce the same result. Faster integration or fewer staves per tank; the choice is yours.
Why Buy Oak Alternatives From Quercus
Quercus oak products give winemakers the control, quality, and finish to be desired. Quercus brings you the same commitment to quality as the Classic Oak Products range of oak barrels. We have great respect for the oak forests that provide our wood. We know that to produce oak of the highest quality, we need to take the utmost care of the continued health and sustainable future of these forests.
For those winemakers looking to be conscious of their effect on the earth, our adjuncts are an environmentally-friendly choice because they use other parts of the tree that are otherwise unsuitable for barrel stave production. Each and every piece is sustainably sourced, seasoned, and toasted oak stavewood.
With variety in timing, toast level, and type of oak adjuncts, we have a significant number of options available to winemakers. Our oak adjuncts and alternatives reach the degrees of character, complexity, and structure desired by winemakers. Our range includes:
- Quercus American – Notes of sweet vanilla and robust toasted oak. It provides hints of coconut and a medium palate structure.
- Quercus French – A glycerol-like vanilla oak, this lifts red fruit notes and provides lineal palate structure and rounding.
- Quercus Hungarian – This oak provides a sweet spice, darkens fruit, and adds mid-palate weight. It provides hints of nutmeg, clove, and mocha which linger on the finish.
Craft the balance and structure that your wines deserve with Classic Oak Products.
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