Then there would be no purpose for me to age in the carboy, I could go ahead and age in bottles. I have read that many people use oak chips during the aging process to replace the barrel age, do you find that as an useless method?
Thank you guys so much for the responses! I'm quite eager to learn, as I just started my first kit, a Montepulciano Kit, around 4 weeks ago. I just returned from spending a weekend visiting a few vineyards in Fredricksburg, Tx this past weekend, so it only amplified my addiction to my new hobby. I just returned home with a RJS Cab Sav kit to start tonight. �� I have dug in and researched about as much as possible so I don't screw up my first few batches. I'm just concerned if a use the oak provided with the kit during fermentation and use additional oak to age in the carboy, will that over oak the wine?
Nice i have an RJS en primeur cab sav aging in the carboy right now i started a few months ago, i might rack it this weekend and have a taste and decide if im gonna throw in a oak stave or spiral. Id say so far out of the kits ive done the cellar showcase amarone and the rjs trio red is probly the best ive tryed yet. With the rjs trio red we blended 20% merlot into it and we soaked oak cubes in whiskey for two weeks and then added them into the carboy for 3 months. The flavor is great.
I'm just concerned if a use the oak provided with the kit during fermentation and use additional oak to age in the carboy, will that over oak the wine?
Oh my, that sounds very intriguing. I started ferming the en primeur cab tonight and I was actually searching for bourbon soaked wood chunks. 2 weeks soaking is all it took? Did you use American oak or French oak chunks for your trio? Im debating to add the bourbon soaked chunks to age in this batch. Thanks for the info!
I used american oak cubes, id like french oak but for some reason it cost a small fortune where i order my supplies from, yeah i soaked about a cup of cubes in about 2 cups of gentleman jacks for about 2-3 weeks.
In regards to using oak cubes, I added 3 oz of heavy toasted French oak cubes to my Sangio/Merlot after primary, and I couldn't detect any oak flavor. It did increase the tannins a little and you could get a very slight "campfire" type of aroma but not much else.
I love wines with a smoky oaky flavor, so I ended up adding a Med+ French oak spiral the final month before bottling which seemed to do the trick.
I think for my next batch of red, I'm going to skip the oak cubes all together and stick with the spirals (thinking about soaking them in whisky for a few weeks).
The Hungarian (European) cubes from Stavin are a middling price and have a great flavour.
http://ecom.bosagrape.com/product.php?productid=17690&cat=444&page=1
What's your favorite roast on the oak to use?
I just received my French and American oak spirals so I'm excited to start aging my first batch in two weeks. I decided to age my Montepulciano/Tempranillo with the French oak spirals. Smok1 convinced me my Cabernet is gettting the American oak soaked in Jim Beam for a few weeks.
From what I've read the darker roasted oaks provide the smokiness your looking for. What's your favorite wine you have done so far?
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