Goodbye to New Oak

We were never fans of overly oaked wines. When used in a white wine, I sometimes have thought that sipping this style of wine was like drinking splinters. For red wines, oak is the choice for fermentation and especially for aging, so I read with interest this article regarding: Winemakers Wave Goodbye to New Oak.
I probably wouldn't have blogged about it until I read this:
"The cask historically was simply used to transport wine – it was never intended as an enological tool. Oak should remain a secondary feature of wine production, used to stabilize wine, rather than used to impart aromas or flavors that trample over the fruit and terroir character."
That quote was from Maria José Lopez de Herredia. We absolutely love Lopez de Herredia and have had their Viña Tondonia and Viña Bosconia, so an article quoting Maria José gave it gravitas in my mind.
How did this change from new oak usage to reused old oak come about? The answer is that sommeliers have been proselytizing the consumer movement towards the subtle and fresh for some time now and the message is being received by many different regions and price brackets who eschew the fashionable and the sellable, read trendy.
I think that the message that came through in this article for me is that you need to make the wine that speaks to your own style regardless what the current trend is. For more details, please read the article: Winemakers Wave Goodbye to New Oak.