While winter did its thing outside, our Rent-A-Row teams were warm and dry inside the cellar door, glasses lined up and opinions ready to form. Oak Tasting is one of those lovely mid-year moments in the Rent-A-Row journey — harvest is behind us, the wines have settled, and suddenly everyone gets to start shaping what their Shiraz will become.

For anyone yet to participate in our Rent-A-Row program, the Oak Tasting workshop, the third in the program, is the stage where our winemakers-in-progress taste their young Shiraz and explore how different oak styles change the feel, flavour and personality of the wine. We begin with the un-oaked control, then taste through French, American and Hungarian oak, before everyone starts experimenting with their own blends.

It starts cautiously enough — a few thoughtful sniffs, a few careful sips — and then, usually within about 20 minutes, the room gets louder and everyone has an opinion.

This year — once oak type, percentage and dosage strength were all included — we recorded 95 individual oak choices across 12 Oak Tasting sessions, resulting in an astounding 70 unique oak combinations. 

In other words: no, there is absolutely not one “perfect” oak choice.

French oak came out slightly ahead overall, averaging around 45% of the final blends, with American oak at 29% and Hungarian oak close behind at 27%. Some groups leaned savoury and structured, some went richer and sweeter, some chased spice, and a few went full confidence mode with 100% French oak.

That spread of choices is exactly why we love this workshop. People arrive saying, “I don’t know enough about wine,” and leave saying, “Nope, I definitely prefer that one.” No wine wanky-ness required — just your palate, two glasses, and the confidence to say which one you like better.

For the few groups who couldn’t make it to an Oak Tasting workshop, we’ll use a house oak blend designed for an easy-drinking, crowd-pleasing Shiraz style.

Next stop: letting the oak and wine settle in together before the final workshop: bottling later in the year.