a very 'wine country' mulch

Apparently there are some wines which come by their 'oak-y' flavor not by soaking in the traditional oak barrels, but from oak chips, in mesh 'sachets', such as these. (I hope I'm not giving away any trade secrets here!) When they come out of the wine, they have a very rich dark color (which fades away fairly quickly), and a strong wine scent. Anyways, they're great for topping off the paths, which I was thinking of doing, just shortly before our friend David, who is a local winemaker, pulled in with a stack of these sacks. Thanks!