Carboy to bottle, newbie questions

[FlyingFish]

I have an old vine zin that I have had in a carboy for 3 months on oak cubes. I want to bottle it as the samples have been promising. My questions, is there a benefit to waiting longer to bottle and is it okay to rack again prior to bottling. I have a fast ferment conical fermenter that has an easy to use valve and set up but I am worried that the last transfer will add too much oxygen to the wine.
Thanks

 

[vacuumpumpman]

I would recommend transferring into a carboy with very little head space - Or top it off with it off with a similar wine or just bottle it it you do not have that choice.

I do not know how long you had it in the fermenter - and any other details -
is it a kit - ?
juice - ?
from grapes - ?
?

 

[sour_grapes]

I think that the OP has the wine in a carboy, and is interested in racking it INTO a conical fermenter for the purpose of bottling.

Yes, you can certainly rack out of the carboy into another vessel for bottling. I do it into an open-topped bucket that has a spigot. Your wine won't oxidize instantly -- it will be fine.

Whether the wine will benefit from additional bulk aging is a thorny question. Many people here think that it will; some insist that a year is minimum. Others (including me) think that some of the aging can happen in the bottle. In particular, Tim Vandergrift thinks that bulk aging longer than a few months is not beneficial.

 

[FlyingFish]

Sours grapes is correct. It is in a carboy now with only 2" of head space. Will leaving it on oak cubes for a longer period drastically change it. I have about a handful of medium toast French cubes in the carboy. This is my first batch so I am not sure what bulk aging it over the cubes will do.

 

[sour_grapes]

Oh, I see. I think that, after 3 mos., the cubes have probably given all they have to give. However, I am not sure about that, and hope others will chime in on how long cubes last.

 

[oldwino54]

Afull oak spiral is good for 3 weeks, and I think thats more oak than a kit bag of chips or cubes!!

 

[salcoco]

what does it taste like. if very oak like rack off the cubes let sit for about a month with proper so2 and bottle. the tannin will smooth out over time when bottle aging