Question: what species of oak is used for wine barrels

title: Oak (wine)
text: In early wine history , the amphora was the vessel of choice for the storage and transportation of wine . Due to the perishable nature of wood material it is difficult to trace the usage of barrels in history . The Greek historian Herodotus noted that ancient Mesopotamians used barrels made of palm wood to transport wine along the Euphrates. Palm is a difficult material to bend and fashion into barrels , however , and wine merchants in different regions experimented with different wood styles to find a better wood source . The use of oak has been prevalent in winemaking for at least two millennia , first coming into widespread use during the time of the Roman Empire . In time , winemakers discovered that beyond just storage convenience , wine kept in oak barrels took on properties that improved it by making it softer and , in some cases , better - tasting . Robert Mondavi is credited with expanding the knowledge of winemakers in the United States about the different types of oak and barrel styles through his experiments in the 1960s and ' 70s .