What ageing methods are suitable for O2-sensitive wines?
For wines that are sensitive to oxygen, maturing in vats or large barrels is more appropriate in order to limit the exposure to oxygen.
Mixed ageing allows the amount of oxygen provided to be adjusted to the needs of the wine.
Partial barrel-ageing can also be carried out by placing some of the wine in barrels and the rest in vats or by starting the ageing in barrels and completing it in a vat. For example, the very thiolic aromatic profile typical for Sauvignon Blanc does not necessarily support 100% barrel ageing. It is quite possible to put 50% of the batch in vats to preserve the aromatic profile as much as possible.
At the Eisele vineyard, Sauvignon is aged on the lees in various containers. In 2018 for example, 35% was in stainless steel vats, 33% in used barrels, 20% in new barrels and 12% in concrete egg-shaped vats.
Another example would be to age the wine on its lees for 12 months in barrels and then finish it in vats for 6 months. This procedure is practised at Château Grillet to preserve all the aromatic complexity.
However, some grape varieties do not always "digest" new wood and the wine can sometimes appear noticeably affected. This is the case for Gamay, for example, whose characteristics can be lost if the percentage of new wood is too high.
