Oaked and Unoaked wines

[wondersofwine]

It certainly does help to inform customers about wines if you have tasted them yourself. One clue about oaked wines with American labels is wording such as "vanilla flavor, sweet oak, cedar, butterscotch, buttery, etc." Certain varieties often see a lot of oak aging (or wood chips to give an oaky flavor to less expensive wine)--chardonnay is one that in California is usually given the oak treatment. Also in Burgundy proper. (In Chablis or Macon regions of France it is usually not aged in new oak. Some Australian and New Zealand chardonnays say on the label "unwooded" or
"unoaked.") Other varietal grapes are usually not aged in oak--Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Grigio. Not sure about practices making Viognier wines, and I believe Sauvignon Blanc wine is sometimes aged in oak; more often probably not. If you receive advertising material from the vineyards or suppliers, that might answer the question about vinifying procedures. Also, many vineyards have websites that will answer such questions. Since as a nondrinker it will be harder for you to be informed, you may need to put some time into answering the questions about the brands you carry by looking up information on the Web. This forum is a good start.