What type of oak?

[Jenks829]

Hello all,

I have merlot and cabernet sauvignon wines that I am getting ready to oak. I have three carboys of each grape and initially thought I would put French Oak in one, American Oak in another and Hungarian Oak in the last. Now I am thinking I shouldn't mess with anything and put French Oak in all.

What does everyone think?

 

[ibglowin]

My vote would be for either French or Hungarian.

 

[Wade E]

I like American in Cab Sauv myself.

 

[Rock]

French and American blend for me.!!!!

 

[djrockinsteve]

I have in the past used american med. oak for my big reds and french oak for some whites.

 

[bruno31]

It's always nice to test different things, so go on with the 3 differents oaks! This will give you more experience about the effects of each type of oak.

Are your barrels new? If so, be careful not to "mark" the wine too much...

 

[syncnite]

Also with the 3 different oaks, you'll have more fun/interesting blending options.

 

[Jenks829]

OK. It looks like I'll stick to the original plan of 3 different oaks.

Bruno31, I don't have barrels, I am using oak spirals.

I did plan on blending some of these but i was not going to mix the wood. For example, I was going to do 50/50 blends with cab/merlot with French Oak. I was not planning on doing any oak combinations.

 

[Wade E]

Actually a lot of wineries are doing oak blends now by either going from one barrel to another or using different staves in their SS vats.

 

[Jenks829]

Actually a lot of wineries are doing oak blends now by either going from one barrel to another or using different staves in their SS vats.

This seems very cool but this is our first go at wine and we only have 40 gallons so I don't want to get too creative.

 

[tonyt]

I did a barrel taste at a winery in the Texas Hill Country (outside Austin). Grape Creek Vineyards. They had the same Syrah juice aging in once used American barrel, new American barrel and new French barrel. All three were the same vintage. all three had been in barrel one year. They were incredibly different. Three totally different wines. We preferred the French, hands down. Liked the once used American and did not prefer the new American. The vintner was planning to blend the three together and add another wine to the mix that he did not divulge. It was quite a lesson in oaking for me. I came home and ordered myself 23 ltr barrel. Good luck and please report back.

 

[ibglowin]

Tony,

I am headed out next week to visit the familial DNA and will more than likely head up to Austin from SA for a day to visit my Bro and his family. Are there any winery's that you found to be "must see"?

 

[tonyt]

Absolutely. As you likely know the area between Austin, San Antonio and Fredricksburg are quite populated with wineries. and If you want old and quaint with really nice folk stop by Sister Creek Winery http://www.sistercreekvineyards.com/ . It is a 100 or so year old cotton mill minimally converted to a winery. The tasting area is the original milling room and the winery is what must have been storage or barn. When you walk in they hand you a laminated page for you self guided tour around the couple thousand square foot facility. The sketch on the website is EXACTLY how it looks. Their wine is quite good also but that seemed to be almost beside the point.
Secondly, as I have posted a couple times on one or another of the forums we did a barrel tasting at Grape Creek Vineyards and Winery. http://www.grapecreek.com/ . I believe it's the second largest winery in Central Texas. What was so good there is the winery tour (complete with winery staff tour guide haha) was the three oak barrel tasting in the cellar. They had the same Syrah aging in New American, once used American and new French oak barrels. All were from the same batch of grapes. We tasted from all three barrels to compare and contrast the effect of the different oaks on the wine. That tasting and the oaking lessons learned on the tour convinced me to order my Vadai barrel ( well, that and all of your comments). That was quite a learning experience.
You can drive from San Antonio to Sister Creek then up to Grape Creek then on to Austin. You will pass 8 or 10 wineries along the way. If you go post some comments and pcitures.

 

[ibglowin]

Will do.

Thanks Tony!

 

[tonyt]

Okay Mike, this had to be a separate post. Sister Creek is not the most important place on Ranch Road 1376, but rather this place http://www.luckenbachtexas.com/ .

This little happy acre of Texas has not changed since I frequented the place back in my college days, many Luckenbach Moons ago. All the same folks seem to work there and all the same folks seem to visit. The only difference is that we drive up in RV's and on Hogs and we're gray on top, if we still have anything on top at all. I would consider it a personal insult if you pass by and don't spend thirty minutes sitting under the trees sipping a Lone Star Longneck. And you have to remember one thing while in Luckenbach, Pulled Pork sandwich. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe4cqFiW02s&feature=player_detailpage"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe4cqFiW02s&feature=player_detailpage[/ame]

 

[ibglowin]

Hehehehehehe....

I was born in SA. I knew about Luckenbach even before Wylon, Willie and the boys did.

 

[tonyt]

Hehehehehehe....

I was born in SA. I knew about Luckenbach even before Wylon, Willie and the boys did.

Hummmm. Then I figure that's not a cigar the little green Smilie is smoking.

 

[bruno31]

OK. It looks like I'll stick to the original plan of 3 different oaks.

Bruno31, I don't have barrels, I am using oak spirals.

I did plan on blending some of these but i was not going to mix the wood. For example, I was going to do 50/50 blends with cab/merlot with French Oak. I was not planning on doing any oak combinations.

Ok, I didn't catch that... Here in France, oak spirals are considered a total heresy (even if many have cheated with this in the past, even among prestigious Bordeaux domains!)

If you like the taste, why not, but then go with the lighter one (i.e French oak). Problem is, oak spirals won't really improve or develop your wine, they will just add a (rather simple) taste...

Of course, I may be a bit biased here from my culture, but maybe you should keep one batch apart without any oak (or even a few bottles), just to see and compare the result after a few months/years... Hopefully, I will have convinced you that oak spirals are really not the best way to make wine

 

[ibglowin]

Yea, your probably not gonna find too many people on this forum who are going to side with you on that belief...... :>

Problem is, oak spirals won't really improve or develop your wine, they will just add a (rather simple) taste...

Of course, I may be a bit biased here from my culture,