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Have you ever tasted a white wine that seemed to have a hint of sweetness only to be told that it was completely dry?
You’re not alone. The phenomenon has caused many wine tasters to raise their eyebrows quizzically and question their palate when faced with a dry wine that seemed to contain a splash of sugar.
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However, it would appear that a spoonful of quercotriterpenosides helps this particular medicine to go down.
«The concept of sweetness without sugar [in wine]– it’s a seeming paradox,» said Axel Marchal of the University of Bordeaux, who has studied this very issue. Without any answers, he set out to find an explanation in the late noughties, basing his doctoral thesis on the topic.
Some believe that alcohol and glycerol play a part in the sweet sensation found in dry wines but studies – including Marchal’s – haven’t found any proof. Instead, it appears that oak barrels are having a greater effect on your glass of Chardonnay.
«We discovered that there is a family of molecules that had not been highlighted before – they are freed naturally by oak wood and give a natural sweetness without sugar. They are 8000 times sweeter than sucrose.» The scientists then – naturally – gave them an easy-to-spell name: quercotriterpenosides.
Going a step further, Marchal collaborated with his mentor, the late Bordeaux enologist and legend Denis Dubourdieu, to publish research showing that the level of sweetness that wood gives depends on the type of oak used.
«We found that once we had identified that molecule, the sweet component was much more present in sessile oak than pedunculate oak, so sessile oak is much more suitable for wine,» said Marchal.
Seesile oak, or Quercus pertraea, to give it its proper name, is a white oak species native to Europe and tends to grow in shallow, stony soils, hence the name petraea, or «stony places». Its timber is used for construction, fencing and barrel staves. Peduncular oak, by contrast, is preferred by cabinetmakers.
So what does all this science mean? By developing a system to identify oak species that offer this sweet sensation in dry whites, it gives winemakers yet another tool in their winemaking box. No longer should winemakers be demanding a particular oak forest for their oak, they should be demanding the type of oak.
Is this going too far and taking some of the romance away from wine? Not according to Marchal. «Enology gives you freedom.»