Quercus is the botanical genus to which oak belongs and is therefore the most important family of plants to wine after the vine genus vitis since it provides both cork and wine’s most classic storage material (oak). It is subdivided into two subgenera, Cyclobalanopsis, and Equercus, to which all oaks used for wine containers and corks belong. The species most commonly used for barrels are the American white oak Quercus alba, and the European oaks Quercus robur and Quercus petraea. For more details, see oak.
