(TheDrinksBusiness) - Barrels over 20 years old still impart oak aromas to Champagne according to Bollinger’s chef de cave Mathieu Kauffman. Despite the widely held belief that barrels over five years old don’t affect the flavour of the wine stored in them, Kauffman stated that juice fermented in very old 205 litre oak pièces picks up characters from the wood. “Even from a barrel that is 20 years old you can still smell the oak – it is not true that there are no aromas [from the barrel] after five to six years of use,” he said, when addressing attendees of the Fine and Rare Specialist wine course at the Palais Coburg. Continuing, he said, “The effect is small, but it is big enough for Champagne.”