Regular readers know about our oak barrique. Hand made by Wadworth Brewery’s Master Cooper, Alastair Simms. More about it in a blog from 2011 here>> and some photos of the day we collected it here>>. It’s made of French oak from Allier and is currently gently maturing a little of our Madeleine Angevine 2013, to give us 300 or so special bottles for people who like a little oak structure under the fruit-driven palate of the Madeleine..

So we were interested, in one of our periodic forays, to hear a lot of discussion of oak aging and barrel fermentation at Decanter’s Spanish and Portuguese Fine Wine Encounter on Saturday in sunny Marylebone. As Paco Casas, oenologist for Ribera del Duero’s Pago de los Capellanes said, good wine is made in the vineyard, but oak is one of the things the winemaker CAN control. So he is. They are upping the quality of the new barrels they buy by the thousand every year, to a very fine grained oak that is more expensive, but it gives a more restrained flavour and lasts for 5 vintages instead of two. So cheaper as well as better. Ruskin comes to mind...

Privilege to hear Mireia Torres present a terrific masterclass with tastings of wines from single vineyards of the family firm, two of which she manages. We learned some family history and tasted Chardonnays from Milmanda, Cabernets from Mas la Plana and Jean Leon and traditional varieties from Grans Muralles. We learned that while Vino de Pago means a single vineyard wine, in Catalonia it’s Vi de Finca. (Finca in Portugal too). Grans Muralles, which claims to be the oldest vineyard in Catalonia, documentation back to 1151, is  collecting, researching, propagating and blending old varieties. These wines - my fave - were blends of Garnacha (“can’t extract to much from skins or tannins harsh”), Cariñena (“good in poor soils”), Monastrell (“spicy, dark berries”), Garró (“firm tannins, black pepper flavours”), Samsó, recently replaced with Querol. Querol is rubbish at pollinating - lots of small, sterile berries so a high proportion of skins which add intensity of flavour to the mix.

And more on oak. New French oak to the fore these days - no more American oak in the later vintages, but Mireia is moving from Nevers oak to using an increasing proportion of Tronçais and Allier oak.

So I thought I’d look up more on French oak. Turns out the actual forest is so important because it affects the tightness of the wood grain. Loose grain is more porous and gives more aggressive flavours, Tighter grain can have a lighter toast (the insides of wine barrels are seared with fire - called “toasting”) and releases its flavours more slowly, has less harsh tannins and is more sought-after for subtle, high-quality wines.

Nevers oak is medium-tight grained, used a lot for big reds. Allier is tighter-grained and used for a wide range of whites and reds. Tronçais is an individual wood within the Allier forest, has a very tight grain and is prized for long barrel-aging. Oak from the Centre is medium grained and used mostly for big whites and light reds - Chardonnay and Pinots. Vosges oak is coarse grained - for quick aging. Limousin oak is too coarse for wine - used for cognac.

So Alliers will do fine for our delicate, aromatic Madeleine.

We did wonder if we’d have to drive to London, what with all these tales of the West being cut off. But Railtrack and First Great Western have obviously worked their socks off. Fast trains both ways whizzed through ravishing if rather watery landscapes and delivered us on-the-dot in significantly under 2 hours.

Still a lot of water on the Levels, but at last it’s slowly dropping, thanks to some dryer weather, the Dutch pumps turning Dunball into Somerset’s niagara and, on Saturday, the long-awaited opening of the romantically-named Monk’s Leaze Clyce, a flood-relief sluice to take some of the Parrett water off to the less-silted King’s Sedgemoor Drain. Will take weeks to clear though. The way everyone’s come together to help in the flood areas and support evacuated people and animals is a triumph for all involved. Hats off. Organised through Facebook and Twitter. The authorities have done well too though, publishing a regular Community Bulletin and seeming to get everything working pretty well, regular boat transport, mounted police patrols, army help and all. Emotion-tugging photos of generously-donated and transported ForageAid arriving from the FarmyArmy all over the country for the displaced cattle, of Police officers patrolling waist-deep in waterproof gloves and chest waders, of Sikh’s and Commandos coming to help fill sandbags, of a home-constructed raft operating a regular car-evacuation run...

Vineyard?  Well we are getting out there when we can. Ground’s soft but not squelchy now. Pruning? Madeleine’s 80% done, Kernling 5%. But the days are getting longer, drier and warmer. Garden’s suddenly colourful with crocuses, hellebores, early primroses, cyclamen and first daffs, and today the vineyard was studded with sky-blue speedwell opening in the sunshine.

PS Decanter’s record of their event here>>. On slide 11 you can see Le Patron and yours truly in the front row!