What types of wood are used to make wine casks?
Some types of wood, such as oak, are twice as strong as an equal mass of soft steel and aluminum. Wood even affects our taste buds. When Julius Caesar and his legions invaded Gaul (modern-day France), they discovered very good wine. The reason was that, unlike other Mediterranean peoples, the Gauls stored their wine in wooden casks. Wooden barrels transform acrid-tasting alcohol, fresh from the distillery, into an excellent beverage. Alcohol from wine, aged in wooden barrels, loses its unwanted acetone and ether and absorbs tannin. Why oak? The wood has to have a tight grain to stop the contents leaking out, but allow minimal air in to aid aging. And over time the wine consumer has become used to the flavor imparted by oak, and they expect it.
