White wine & oak questions

Vincent

By "the presence of oak," do you mean the flavors of new oak, Vincent? Aside from those wines vinified in stainless steel, most all wine is aged (and possibly fermented) in oak barrels of one size or another. Many of those wines, however, won't taste "oaky" because the barrels aren't new (and most of the "oaky" flavor has been previously extracted). AFAIK, no rules specifically forbid oak aging, but there may be some regulations that require it. I am not familiar enough with various regional rules to know, though.

Certain wines-regions have a tradition of not being overtly oaky: NZ Sauvignons, Rieslings, Chablis, most white wines from the Loire and Alsace and Italy. However, especially in CA or for "International" wines, all bets are off. I've had Viogniers and Sauvignon Blancs from CA that were so oaky as to be unrecognizable *sigh* One thing I've noted is that the "Reserve" designation on a CA white wine is a fairly reliable indicator for heavy-handed use of oak.

A clbuttic pairing with raw oysters is Muscadet from the Loire, a distinctly non-oaky wine; another would be Champagne, again non-oaky.

Mark Lipton