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- Is all of the oak for "French Oak" actually from oak trees grown in France?
What is unique about "French Oak" or is there a specific species that can
actually be grown anywhere?
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The French have mastered the technique of selectively havesting the trees in
their Oak forests, drying and aging the wood in ways that create the most
gentle flavor tones. Forest in America are begining to specialize in this
but it is a long learnign curve... other European countries, particularly the
Eastern Europeans that have also had a long history in making wine barrels, are
beginning to reemerge as equally reliable producers to the French... Certainly
the future will see many top wines oaked in barrels from places other than
France.
- Are all reds best served at or near room temperature or should some be
chilled? --Wine Fan
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All reds should be slightly chilled. Cellar temperature is 55
degrees, slightly higher is an ideal temperature for reds. American
are notorious for drinking whites too cold and reds too warm.
- Should all red wines be decanted? Is decanting primarily to separate
sediment or to 'let it breath? --Eileen
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Decanting is good for separating sediment for old wines and helping young wines
to breath… although many experts prefer letting the wine breath in the glass so
that they may savoir it’s transformation from rough to soft…not me.
--AS
- I have heard that plastic corks actually preserve wine better than wood
ones, if this is true, why don't higher end wines use plastic corks?
thank you, Chris
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Screw caps do the best job of preserving wine …plastic corks are used because
they look like and behave like (removed with cork screw) real cork, thus
preserving some of the ceremony … but never destroy the wine with cork taint.
It is still unknown how well plastic will hold up with 20 or 30 year old wines.
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