Sometimes it feels like every wine you drink is oaked. But the fact is that only 2% of all the world’s wines spend time in oak barrels, according to Drinks Business. And this is down from 3% in 2008.
Nowadays winemakers want to stress the fruit so they reduce the time in oak and they buy less new barrels every year. In times of crisis, it is also a way to save some money. In addition, more and more wines are made for immediate consumption which means that oak aging is less important.
To cope with reduced demand the coopers offers customized toasting of the barrels for their clients.
Read more about the decrease in demand for barrels at Drinks Business.
In 2012 the French coopers sold in total more than 525,000 oak barrels. France is the world leader in oak barrels and 66% of the production is exported.
