Last December the European Union gave the go-ahead for its winemakers to start using oak chips, along with five other new enological practices. Introduced by European Regulation 2165-2005, the conditions outlining the implementation of some of the practices still remain to be defined.
With regard to oak chips, OIV (Organisation internationale de la vigne et vin) recommendations are being taken into account; however, individual states reserve the right to limit their use to certain wine categories. Italy has indicated that it plans on extending usage to its DOC wines whereas Spain is keen on preserving the traditional winemaking practices of its DO categories. In France, the right to openly use oak chips for commercial purposes has long been awaited by vins de pays vintners and wine merchants. Over the past decade some producers have been flavoring their wines with chips under the cover of authorized experiments, a loophole enabling winemakers to add them to up to 20 percent of their production. AOCs, largely left out of the debate, are suddenly in the spotlight.
Representatives of INAO (Institut National des Appellations Contrôlée), the French appellation authority, met early this month to discuss, among other issues, whether the new European winemaking practices could be applied to AOCs. According to INAO spokesperson Maria Gras, a commission of independent winemaking experts is being appointed by the Institute, with an aim toward determining whether or not the newcomers are “terroir-friendly.” An initial report will be handed over in June.
As a matter of principle, INAO says that it is against adopting these innovations. It seems that the series of experiments, recently commissioned by the appellation authority concerning flash détente (a process that enhances aromas and pigment levels in wine), oak chip usage and enriching processes show they aren’t particularly compatible with the AOC concept. On the other hand, INAO has indicated that it is willing to rapidly grant special permission for some wine syndicates to use these techniques if their request is justified. AOC Bordeaux and AOC Bordeaux Supérieur wine producers have already indicated that they would like to be counted among the exceptions.
In the reorganization of its hierarchical appellation system, INAO is considering the creation of an entry-level AOC category whose market positioning would be similar to that of vins de pays and VDQS wines (French for “delimited wine of superior quality,” the second-highest classification level for French wines; the top category being Appellation D’Origine Controlee/AOC. There are two categories below VDQS: vin de pays and vin de table). According to Gras, more flexible winemaking practices would be authorized in the production of these denominations. The threesome would translate to 80 percent of France’s total wine production, Gras pointed out. If INAO doesn’t feel the need for chip usage to be indicated on wine labels, it wants to ensure that the term “oak aged” be only applied to barrel-matured offerings.
The European regulation defining the use of oak chips is currently in the pipeline. According to the French Winemakers Union, it will include the type of wood authorized, granulometry requirements, type of aromatization, and whether usage can be extended to grape and must fermentation. The list of criteria is expected to be official by the middle of the year, in time for the upcoming harvest.
When it comes to the other practices, the use of L-ascorbic acid on grapes and musts and of dimethyldicarbonate for microbiological stabilization are also awaiting guidelines. The following processes, however, are already authorized: treatment of fermenting must and new wine with charcoal; the addition of yeast mannoproteins; and the use of plant-based fining agents. European industry operators are confident that the new range of practices will offer a second wind to wines situated in the lower price brackets.—Diana Macle-Gontier
