Oak and wood smells

Smells of vanilla, butter and toast - on red wines and on white - usually result when a wine has been aged in oak barrels, for example, Chardonnay. If the wine has been aged in oak for too long, the wine may smell like a timber yard, with the fruit overwhelmed by the smell of oak. The fruit may emerge again as the wine ages, or it may not. Smells of spices such as cinnamon and cloves also come from oak.

Different sorts of oak impart different smells and flavours to wine: US oak gives a full vanilla flavour, while French oak is more subtle. German oak is spicy; Portuguese oak, chocolatey.