Detecting oak taste test

[Drew]

I don't know Foodie, I'm sure my sampling is far limited to your tasting and buying experience but my wine experience seems to point to the continued addition of oak. Maybe I'm more of an Oak phobe than I thought [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img]. I have nothing scientific or factual to back up my impressions. It just seems that more new bottlings are ladden with oak, particularly Australian, California and southern France. I haven't experienced this with Italian or Spanish wines. Could it be I'm sampling wines specifically targeting the "American Palate"?

Drew