oakey taste

[winophite]

I made a post in the austrailia thread about a Boolaroo Shiraz 2003. It's label indicates a light oak taste along with the red fruity stuff. My question is that I taste fruit in the front of my palate and in the finish, but in the mid-swallow toward the back of my throat kind of the upper area I get a strong "funny" taste perhaps of toasted oak. My suspicion is that this wine may have been cooked in shipment and the oakey flavor is of "burnt" oak. I'm fairly new to wines and I don't really know what an oakey taste should taste like and would welcome any comments from more experienced conniseurs. Thanks.
winophite