Oxidative winemaking is one of the oldest and most intriguing techniques used in the winemaking world.
While risky, and also often misunderstood when not directly linked to classic styles – a growing trend amongst avant-garde winemakers is to apply oxidative approaches and techniques to produce wines that offer depth, complexity, character and a sense of saline, briny minerality.
What is oxidative winemaking?
At its core, oxidative winemaking refers to a process where the wine is deliberately exposed to oxygen during certain stages of its production, especially in the ageing process. Normally, winemakers want to protect the wine from oxygen, fearing it could ruin the delicate balance of aromas and flavours. But in oxidative winemaking, oxygen isn’t to be feared – it’s a tool to shape and develop a wine’s profile.
When oxygen interacts with wine, it causes chemical reactions that gradually alter its colour, flavour, and texture. These wines often take on nutty, salty, dried-fruit, and savoury characteristics and find added depth and complexity as a by-product of the approach. It’s a game of controlled risk, where the end result is a wine that’s radically different from its more reductive counterparts – those wines that are all about freshness, fruit-forwardness, and purity.
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Popular examples of oxidative wines
Of course, it pays to revisit classic oxidative styles that have existing credence. Sherry is perhaps the most renowned of these styles, made from white grapes grown in the sunny, warm climates of southwestern Spain. This wine is aged in a unique system called the solera and typically produced with spirit fortification. The solera involves a series of barrels, each with wine of different ages, that get blended in a fractional manner to create consistent quality.
Madeira is another powerhouse of oxidative winemaking, made on the volcanic island of the same name. Madeira wines are deliberately subjected to extreme heat and oxygen during their ageing process, a method that essentially forces the wine to ‘cook’ – but it results in wines that can last for decades, even centuries.
From the Jura region of France, Vin Jaune is an oxidatively aged wine made from the local savagnin grape. It’s like a French sibling to sherry but with its own unique profile and is prodigious for its ageing capabilities and, of course, Vin Jaune is not fortified – the wines are aged under a film of flor yeast in oak barrels for at least six and a half years, creating a flavour profile that’s as unique as it is delicious.
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What's in stock for the future of oxidative wines
While traditional, older winegrowing places have been utilising oxidative winemaking for centuries, newer winegrowing countries are showing interest, particularly in recent years – with the intentional (or sometimes accidental!) use of flor as part of the winemaking repertoire. Results range from wild, unruly, and downright odd at times, through to sublime examples that show off the potential for detail and beauty from this approach.
The best examples offer a textural experience that’s often richer, more concentrated and layered than many of the wines that seek out linear pathways to purity and crispness. The best oxidative and/or flor-raised wines show off elements of savouriness with nutty elements, sometimes even characters kindred to fino sherry, and textural depth and phenolics that lend additional character.
Well-made wines that see oxidative and/or flor influence are apt for pairing with a wealth of cuisine, neatly working as a palate reset as much as a savoury, final condiment in the glass. More than that, oxidative wines are an invitation to explore and discover new experiences with wine. They’re about history, craftsmanship, and letting time work its magic.
