The Columbia Valley, Washington’s largest winegrowing region, is blessed with the ability to consistently produce exceptional fruit. That fruit should always be front and center of the state’s wines. At present, the oak steals the show with too many Washington wines.
Growers spend all of their time in the vineyard trying to grow the best fruit that they possibly can. Then many winemakers slather it with a flavor typically purchased from halfway around the world that masks that fruit. It makes no sense to me.
To be fair, new oak is delicious. It adds texture, flavor, tannins, and aromatics. But again, it is a purchased flavor that is, in the case of Washington, exogenous to where it is grown. To me, oak is like salt when cooking: You want just enough but never too much.
I see two problems with oak usage in Washington, speaking, of course, very broadly. First, a lot of wines have too much new oak. It obscures the fruit and therefore the sense of place (and sometimes, frankly, even the variety). Second, a lot of producers are not using the right type of oak. That is to say, the oak is not properly matched to the fruit. That makes the oak seem heavy-handed at best and clumsy at worst.
In recent years, I’ve had wines from a number of producers that have scaled back on new oak due to financial conditions, pandemic related shipping issues, or something else. In most cases, the wines have been considerably better for it. Similarly, wines that use new oak judiciously often stand out in my tastings.
A separate but related issue is winemakers failing to adjust their oak regimen to the vintage. The 2022 vintage red wines from the Columbia Valley provide an excellent example. It was a cool vintage with a heavy crop. Subsequently, there was, in many cases, less ripeness and intensity in the wines than in a hot vintage, like 2021.
Yet many winemakers clearly used the same oak protocol as always. Some of the 2022 vintage wines taste positively bludgeoned with oak, as they don’t have the fruit intensity to match. To be clear, there’s plenty of fruit there; there’s just too much oak. In this regard, I’m reminded of many wines from the 2011 vintage, which were heavy on oak and light on fruit, with the latter due to the coolness of the year.
Why does this happen? Again, new oak is delicious. Ripe, high-percentage new oak wines often taste good – and also often score well with many reviewers. I also think that winemakers can get a house palate, where they don’t necessarily taste the oak because they are so used to working with it.
In terms of oak not being properly matched to the fruit, I believe the problem lies elsewhere. Historically, Washington has relied heavily on tribal knowledge. One person uses certain types of oak barrels, trains people, and those people subsequently use the same types of barrels.
This is, of course, natural, but so is evolution. To improve the overall quality of the wines – and equally importantly to not mask the sense of place – Washington winemakers should focus on more judicious use of oak and better selection of oak. There should be far more intention than there is right now.
The best producers in Washington, and there are a considerable number of them, are both judicious with new oak and use oak that is exceptionally well-matched to their fruit. To wit, I’ve had wines that are 100% new oak where one would never know.
However, in too many wines the oak plays a primary role. It’s time to let the fruit and the place shine.
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Interesting points. Assume Cabernet is the focus here. Feel like Washington Rhône’s are generally not heavily oaked.
Have noticed that there is a different spread of coopers up north than typically found in California cellars. TN, the Francois freres owned cooperages(demptos, radoux, fouquet, darnajou) and Kendall Jackson aligned cooperages 1912 all commonly found. Perhaps the key is using better wood. Will be hard to shake what you refer to as tribal thinking.
SM, I would say more Bordeaux variety-focused than strictly Cabernet Sauvignon, although that is Washington’s most produced variety. Things have definitely gotten much, much better with Rhône varieties over the last 25 years, although I still see examples there too sometimes.
It might be better wood in some cases, but I believe it is just better matching the wood to the fruit. An example I often give is white Burgundy. People will sometimes say to me, “I don’t like Chardonnay, but I like white Burgundy because they use less oak.” If you look at those wines, many of them use plentiful amounts of new oak. However, the oak is exceptionally well-matched to their fruit.
To me, when oak is well-matched, it plays a supportive and enhancing role. When it’s not, it sticks out, overrides the fruit, or potentially even steals the show. As I said in the article, Washington is blessed with such exceptionally high quality fruit. In my opinion, it deserves to be at the fore.
I agree with your assessment and personally witnessed too many times with both Washington and California premium (aka: expensive varietal wines). I don’t like tasting pencil shavings and/or overly toasted barrels in my wine. In many situations, aging wines in (3-4 year old) barrels is the way to go with (maybe) <10% new barrels.
I couldn’t agree with you more, Sean.
Absolutely concur. Thanks for shining a light on this. House palate is spot on.
As an oak barrel salesperson, I can speak to why wineries don’t switch up their oak program with every vintage. To be fair, they often do that by adjusting the quantity of barrels they use. In less ripe years, wineries typically hold over unopened new barrels to be used the following year. But the main issue is that the barrels are often coming from another continent and wineries are forced to place the majority of their orders between January and early June in order to get custom-made barrels delivered to the winery before harvest. They basically need a crystal ball to predict what the vintage will be like before it’s even bud-break in some regions. While cooperages often warehouse stock barrels for wineries to purchase later in the season so they can pick and choose barrels better-suited to the particular vintage, the stock is often limited. Plus, cooperages give ample incentives to wineries for placing orders early, which is a win-win: Wineries save significant dollars on what is a pretty expensive annual purchase, and cooperages can better manage their production schedule in an otherwise very seasonal business, keeping coopers employed year-round. Like everything else, oak is complicated.
I particularly love these two points in the article:
1) “A lot of producers are not using the right type of oak. That is to say, the oak is not properly matched to the fruit.” 100% accurate. Just because something has been done a certain way for a number of years doesn’t mean it’s the best way. Wineries should taste with their oak reps and thoroughly discuss recommendations. I’ve made recommendations to winemakers say they want one thing but then purchase barrels that will have entirely different results from what they said they wanted because they’re afraid to mess with their oak program.
2) “…I’ve had wines that are 100% new oak where one would never know.” Agreed—the quantity/percentage of oak is secondary to a well-matched wood selection (origin/type) / seasoning protocol / bending/toasting protocol / vessel-size-to-wine ratio / length of aging / consistent cooperage craftsmansip & wine impact. So many variables for wineries to consider. I’ve had several clients reduce their new oak too much and discover that the fruit wasn’t as vibrant or lifted as they thought it would be, or that the resulting wine was less complex and “thinner.”
As a wine drinker, I adore the texture, complexity, volume, weight, and length an oak barrel can impart, with flavors and aromas taking a backseat. Selfishly, that’s how I make my barrel recommendations to clients, too (taking into consideration the winemaker’s input, of course). I also often recommend that clients incorporate clay, concrete, ceramic, extended skin contact, extended lees contact, stem addition, or new yeasts to complement what they do with barrels. So how much oak should Washington wineries be using? The short answer to follow my long-winded explanation above is, “It depends.” :-)
Gina Shay, great perspective. Thank you!
I think you’ve highlighted a real tension between showcasing terroir and relying on oak as a stylistic shortcut. From my perspective, careful barrel selection and adapting oak use based on vintage conditions could help preserve the distinct fruit character while still adding structure. Even experimenting with larger-format or neutral barrels might offer balance without overshadowing the vineyard’s voice.