Is it too late to oak?

[harmony24]

I am pretty new at wine making only been doing it for about a year and a half. I bought some wine juice from Pittsburgh last September and really didn't think about oaking it until I tasted it. It is good but feels like it is just missing something. Is it too late to oak or spice it up in some way?

 

[Julie]

No it's not, you can add the oak now.

 

[JohnT]

It is NEVER too late to oak.

 

[harmony24]

Thank you guys very much. What type would you all use? Chips,spirals or powder?

 

[chrisjw]

I like med-plus toasted French Oak spirals or cubes for my red wines. If you add these now, then you will need to wait for the flavor to be extracted and even longer for the oak and tanins to integrate.

I have made and added an oak tea by simmering cubes in water. The flavor gets extracted fast and you get immediate results and you can make more tea out of the same cubes and add it until you get the level of oak that you want. The downside to this is that you will dilute your wine a bit.

 

[harmony24]

How long do you typically have to wait before you get desired results?

 

[pjd]

it is only too late if you have already drank it. Typically I add 1/4 cup French oak chips for a 5 or 6 gallon carboy, start tasting at 2 weeks and usually remove at 4 or 5 weeks. taste until slightly over oaked then remove. the oak mellows with time.

 

[harmony24]

Question, should I have put kmeta on the oak chips before putting in my wine? They were in a sealed bag. I soaked in tap water for an hour and then put in carboys. Did I mess up?

 

[Runningwolf]

I put mine straight into the carboy from the bag.

 

[harmony24]

Great. Thanks a lot runningwolf. I used about 1 to 1.5 ounces per g gallon batch. Is that enough?

 

[sdelli]

Sounds about right.... 4 to 5 ounces per carboy.... Taste and add as you go.....

 

[Norton]

Question, should I have put kmeta on the oak chips before putting in my wine? They were in a sealed bag. I soaked in tap water for an hour and then put in carboys. Did I mess up?

The instructions on my bag of the oak chips say to boil them in water for 15 minutes, discard the water and then add the oak chips. I Was told the reason for these instructions was that boiling gets the harsher tannins out.