Generally, French oak is thought to impart a subtler influence and smoother texture, which is nice most of the time, while American oak is bigger on vanilla flavour and astringent tannins.

Why French oak barrels are so expensive. An curved arrow pointing right. X LinkedIn Copy Link. The letter F. Chris Snyder and Amelia Kosciulek. 2024-05-21T18:32:28Z An curved ...

The first Bomberger's PFG (short for Precision Fine Grain) is finished in barrels made of fine-grained French oak from Tronçais, Allier, Nevers, and Vosges — the staves of which were air-dried ...

Devlin, on the other hand, focuses more on French oak at Ballentine Vineyards—though he also has a place for the use of American oak. “It’s really about wine style,” he says.