The Malaysian Insider :: Food
The Malaysian Insider :: Food |
| The heady alchemy of oak and wine Posted: 16 Oct 2012 09:03 PM PDT BORDEAUX, France, Oct 17 — It has to be one of the most serendipitous accidents of history.  Something happens between the oak tannins and the wine tannins; a marriage, an alchemy that takes place in the barrel. — AFP/Relaxnews "We are lucky in our business, because these trees were initially meant for naval construction, not barrels," admits Jean-Luc Sylvain, a third-generation barrel-maker, or cooper, and CEO of Tonnellerie Sylvain in the south west of France. "But the fact that we selected and cultivated a variety of oak and forced it to grow in height not girth, has a chemical effect, which has a consequence for wine. "There is something that happens between the oak tannins and the wine tannins, you have a marriage, an alchemy that takes place in the barrel." With an annual production of 500,000 barrels, France's coopers dominate the global trade, relying on the forests first cultivated on the orders of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, minister under Louis XIV in the 17th century, in his effort to produce tall, perfect oaks to build a navy capable of challenging England's maritime dominance. "We are the only country in the world to cultivate oak," said Sylvain, with each generation tending saplings that won't reach their prime for another 200 years. "These trees are more appropriate for making wine barrels than what you can find naturally in the forest." The French forests are managed to encourage tall, exceptional trees without branches or knots. The result is timber with a tight grain and the quality of tannins and aromas that improve wine, says Sylvain. But that is a recent discovery. The humble barrel has spent most of its long relationship with wine serving two mundane purposes — storage and transportation. Winemakers discovered the barrel's true calling at a point when many were abandoning it due to its bad reputation for harbouring mould, and ruining the wine. Only when cement and stainless steel became available did its true worth reveal itself. "They noticed something was missing in the wine not aged in the barrel," said Sylvain. Research in the 1970s and 80s showed that a clean oak barrel was an invaluable multi-tasker. "The tannins in the wood balance with the tannins in the wine, and it helps develop aromas," said Charles Chevallier, director of Domaines Barons de Rothschild, including Chateau Lafite, one of Bordeaux's elite properties. Lafite is one of the few estates to run its own cooperage, crafting 2,400 bespoke barrels a year and providing in-house R&D on the marriage between wine and oak. "For us, above all the barrel is a physical phenomenon. It allows for fining the wine with the racking of the lees every three months. When we put the wine in a small container, the sedimentation happens naturally," said Chevallier. "And the micro oxygenation that happens through the wood is necessary for aging fine wine." The barrel, as it turns out, excels as a discreet two-way escape route. "During the barrel aging, water and alcohol evaporate, concentrating the wine, little by little, this is the angel's share," said Dominique de Beauregard, director of research and development at Chene and Company. "There's also a tiny amount of oxygen that enters. Only a barrel can do that. It's terrific." Unfortunately for wine lovers, only a tiny splash of the world's wine sees barrel time - around two percent according to the French federation of coopers, whose 50 members supply 80 per cent of the world's wine barrels. This is where oak chips and staves come in. An anathema to a grand cru classé producer, they are an economical option for wine that can't justify the 600 euro price tag for a 225-litre barrel, say experts. "Oenological wood is used for two main reasons: to imitate barrels or to augment the fruitiness in wine. For example, if you want to enhance the fruitiness, you can add granulated oak chips during fermentation. If you want to add barrel aromas, you can add staves to the finished wine. These are both used all over the world for ordinary wines," said de Beauregard. Adding aromas to the wine is one of oak's more noticeable tasks. Some aromas develop during cultivation, with different forests producing subtle differences, then the drying stage encourages sweet notes like vanilla while banishing bitterness, says de Beauregard. Toasting the inside of the barrel unleashes a sensory cornucopia that de Beauregard articulates as: "Fresh wood, vanilla, coconut, cloves, grilled almonds, toast, mocha, chocolate, dark chocolate, caramel, coffee, toasted coffee and smoke." Winemakers pinpoint their preferred forest and the intensity of the toast, as well as the percentage of new barrels, according to the style of wine they make. "The barrel must not dominate the wine. You put the wine in the barrel, not the barrel in the wine," said Chevallier. Alternative oak products may have their role, but nothing quite matches the barrel. "If you talk to a winegrower, his dream is to age his wine in barrels," said Sylvain. "If he doesn't, it's because he can't afford it, due to the price of his wine." — AFP/Relaxnews |
| Gastronomy nourishes Spain’s gourmet city Posted: 16 Oct 2012 08:22 PM PDT  Chef and teacher Inigo Murua (R) gives a class at the Basque Culinary Centre on October 4, 2012, in the Northern Spanish Basque city of San Sebastian.— AFP/Relaxnews Now its culinary assets — which include more Michelin stars per square metre than anywhere else in the world, and the world's first university of gastronomy — are nourishing it in the economic crisis. "Gastronomy is a tourist attraction of growing importance" for the region, said the director of the Basque Culinary Centre gourmet university, Joxe Mari Aizega. "We are looking to become part of the economic attraction." In a 2011 survey by the Basque Country regional government, seven out of 10 visitors said they were drawn there by the food. More than 1.5 million tourists visited the region this year up to August — its second best year on record — but the number of Spaniards among them fell compared to previous years while the number of foreigners rose. Many of them come to the bars of San Sebastian's old town, where Japanese and US tourists sample "pintxos", the region's trademark bite-sized canapes. The foreign visitors are helping keep the restaurants in business while Spaniards are spending less at a time of high unemployment and budget cuts. "Visitors from the rest of Spain have got slightly fewer, but at the same time we are making up for it with foreigners," said Amaiur Martinez, a joint owner of the Ganbara bar. "A lot of them come from France, as well as from Asia, the United States and Britain," he told AFP, standing behind a counter piled with mushrooms, seafood and various pintxos. "The Asians are most interested in the seafood and how it is prepared. The French are very interested in the mushrooms." Chefs in San Sebastian, which include names such as Martin Berasategui, Pedro Subijana and Andoni Luis Aduriz, have 16 Michelin stars between them. The Basque Culinary Centre, launched last year, counts among its expert participants Ferran Adria, the Catalan master whose former restaurant El Bulli was hailed as the best in the world, and the French chef Michel Bras. "This centre's basic mission is to act as a reference in advanced knowledge of gastronomy with an international vision," Aizega told AFP. Students on the four-year course learn everything from soups to avant-garde dishes as well as studying the science of cooking with test-tubes, management and business skills, with work placements in top eateries worldwide. "Every day they teach us tricks and little tips that help us make the dishes much better," said Esteban Yebes from Colombia, one of the students working at long tables here in their white aprons and hats. "For example, how to shock beans by adding a bit of cold water while they're boiling." For Spaniards struggling to find work in the recession, the centre's world-class training offers a strong guarantee of a job on leaving. "I studied business administration and management, but I could find no work," said one student, Lolo Roman, 29, from the Canary Islands, cooking beans in the training kitchen. "I had always liked cooking so I decided to come here." "We have no doubt they will find work. There are some who get offered work after studying here for one year," said Aizega. "Gastronomy will continue to have its place here and keep innovating." — AFP/Relaxnews |
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