What does oak contribute to the wine?
When released into wine, wood compounds enhance structure and the perceived sweetness of wine, impact the aromatic profile and can help colour stabilization. More specifically:
- Polyphenols and polysaccharides increase structure and improve roundness. By reacting with wine
polyphenols, they help stabilize wine colour.
- Aromatic compounds contribute to the wine the oaky aroma: vanilla, toasted bread, spices, coffee, chocolate, coconut, bourbon etc. etc. Which aromas are produced depends on oak selection to some degree, but primarily on the toasting process. Toasting oak during barrel processing modifies the structure and chemical properties of wood. Increasing temperature and length of toasting will:
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- Reduce oak lactone content that contributes to “fresh oak” and coconut aromas.
Increase “vanilla”, “caramel-like” and “roasted coffee” aromas associated with vanillin, furfural,
4-methylfurfural and maltol.
- At heavy toast levels these compounds are replaced by “spicy” (eugenol, isoeugenol, 4-methylguaiacol) and “smoky” characters (4-methylguaiacol, guaiacol, 2-methylphenol).
Why use barrel alternatives?
There are many reasons to consider oak alternatives:
- Cost is the most common reason of using barrel alternatives. Using barrel alternatives reduces ‘oak’ investment, labour and timing, significantly.
- Storage space is considerably reduced when using tanks + oak alternatives to simulate oak ageing instead of barrels.
- Quality is more consistent and easier to check.
- Risk of microbiological contamination is reduced.
- Ease of Use Large volumes can be treated in tank, minimising wine movements and handling.
How To Find The right Oak alternative?
During harvest, for the fermentation phase, the products of the Enartis Incanto NC range are particularly suitable for improving color intensity and stability.
Incanto NC products are completely soluble formulations containing tannins mainly extracted from toasted oak and yeast polysaccharides. They mimic the effect of oak dust in fermentation while offering a few advantages: absence of solids that could damage mechanical parts of winery equipment, dosages 10 times smaller than typical oak powder, zero loss of color by solid absorption and reduced waste.

Incanto NC White
Incanto NC
Incanto NC Red
Incanto NC SLI
Incanto NC Dark Chocolate