my most serious mistake

[olusteebus]

in the year and a half I have been making wine - Oaking.

I have oaked some reds a little and did ok with it. However, I over oaked a cabernet, 6 gallons of Coastal white and a vina del vida chardonnay. None are drinkable at this time and it has been quite a while.

I am going to hold off on oaking - Maybe I don't like the oak taste.

That is all, I just wanted to confess.

 

[jamesngalveston]

ok..now go sit in the corner...
we all make mistakes, to err is human.
maybe use them as a blend somewhere down the line.

 

[seth8530]

Yeah, you could always blend the excess oak out.

 

[bluedog]

In the interests of learning from your misfortune, could you share some thoughts on where you think things went wrong in your process?

 

[olusteebus]

In the interests of learning from your misfortune, could you share some thoughts on where you think things went wrong in your process?

First of all, I don't think I should have had oak in it while fermenting, secondly, I left it in too long. Oak was in it throughout primary fermentations, at least 7 days,

I would hate to buy a trinity white and mix it with 11 gallons of over oaked coastal and ruin the trinity.
should I do two batches of trinity.

I don't think I can get coastal anymore.

 

[geek]

Wouldn't that subtle down a bit after a while in carboy or bottle?

 

[jswordy]

3-4 ounces of oak in primary is no worry. They do that in kits all the time. I actually think it is harder to oak wines properly in secondary. You have to really watch it to make sure you get it off the oak before it goes too far, especially if you want it to be an early drinker.

If wine is over-oaked it does indeed mellow down with time but some people are not patient enough. It can take a year or more for it to mellow out. In that case, blending works. Probably 50/50.

You can always try homewinery.com for similar concentrates that you can ferment and blend with your oaked wines.

Then again, you may be right. You might just not like oak.

 

[JohnT]

Could you enlighten us on ...

Form of oak used (cubes, chips, dust, stalves, etc)..
Toast.
amount of oak used.
volume of the wine treated...

I am just curious on what you did here.

 

[reefman]

I would hate to buy a trinity white and mix it with 11 gallons of over oaked coastal and ruin the trinity.
I don't think I can get coastal anymore.

I would take a single bottle of Trinity, and slowly add the over oaked wine to it, until it tastes about right, and then you will know how much to add to the rest.

 

[olusteebus]

Could you enlighten us on ...

Form of oak used (cubes, chips, dust, stalves, etc)..
Toast.
amount of oak used.
volume of the wine treated...

I am just curious on what you did here.

One was a kit with oak powder. don't know how much. One was 4 ounces of hungarian cubes. I don't know the other. Could have been a limb, I don't recall.

 

[olusteebus]

I would take a single bottle of Trinity, and slowly add the over oaked wine to it, until it tastes about right, and then you will know how much to add to the rest.

Despite what they say, You are a smart cookie there reefman.

I could try that with a commercial wine just to see.

 

[dangerdave]

I have been trying very hard, but I have been unable to over-oak anything...or maybe I just like the taste of oak.

 

[olusteebus]

I did a test to see how much other wine I would need to mix eith my over-Oakes coastal white. In one glass I had 1 part coastal to 3 parts white wine,in another glass I put 2 parts coastal and 2 parts whie. Then I mixed a 3 to 1 blend. The 1 part coastal/ 3 part other white was still way too much oak.

Thus, I have decided to not get another kit to try to salvage the overly Oakes coastal white. I am just going to move the coastl to the bottom of my rack and forget about it for eight months to a year. Maybe the oak will dissipate enough by then.

So, I have decided to get me a voigner kit to make up for the coastal.

I have never had voigner but it sounds great.

 

[garymc]

Olusteebus, when you used the commercial wine to do trial blends, do you have a way of knowing if the commercial wine also was oaked? Seems it wouldn't help remove the oak flavor if it also was oaked. I'm not a big fan of oak, myself, and haven't used it.

 

[Snafflebit]

I have been trying very hard, but I have been unable to over-oak anything...or maybe I just like the taste of oak.

Look for a young Reserva Rioja Temperanillo. Let us know what you think after your mouth unpuckers.

 

[olusteebus]

I thought I had over oaked the Coastal White but now I realize I actually over kmeta'd it! It is now pretty good and I can tell it is getting better. I think the oaking will give it a good characteristic.

And, it was not 6 gallons, it was 12!