Chilean Juice buckets, very impressed so far!

[Pumpkinman]

I bought 1 bucket each of Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec this spring,
I fermented the Malbec with a D245 & RC212 Blend, and added a medium toast oak infusion spiral.
I fermented the Cab with a BM4X4 & ICV D21 blend, added Medium Plus oak Infusion Spiral to the carboy during fermentation.
I put both through MLF using VP41.
Several months and several rackings later, I was able to rotate them into my barrels.
I'm use to some Juice Bucket wines turning out flabby, or a bit watered down, and having to tweak them a bit, so I wasn't expecting the pleasant surprise that I got when I tasted them before topping them up yesterday!

The Malbec was real nice, pleasant aroma, ripe fruit forward flavors, it left the perception of sweet on the back of the tongue, and not watered down, I'd say medium mouthfeel at this point. Very pleased with this wine that is only 7 months old, I plan on keeping it in the barrel a total of 6 months.

The Cab really blew me away, I was a bit apprehensive about using the Medium plus oak infusion spiral, after a week, I thought that the flavor might have been too strong, Medium Plus Toast contributes aromas of honey and roasted nuts with a hint of coffee and spice, but it was too late to panic, I'd have to ride this one out. fast forward to yesterday, I was blown away by the oak, I could just taste a nice subtle taste of rich... maybe coffee... maybe oak, followed by a nice light fruit, not over powering at all, and that hint of tannins that I really enjoy in a cab. I cannot wait to see how this wine develops!

I will be purchasing these wines again in the spring, I know that grapes will change dramatically from season to season, but these are worth trying them again, something that to want to keep in my inventory, I really wish that I would have purchased double of each!

on a side note, thank God I have Brew Trax and actually entered every addition and exact amounts, at least i can try to recreate them!


Tom

 

[Julie]

Chilean Malbec is one of my favorites. Wait until it has aged a year and a half, it will blow you away.

 

[Runningwolf]

I think thats the one pjd bought an entire drum of. Tom I got 1 pail each of the ten reds. I aged all of them in 5 gallon carboys and blended the gallon extra of each one together. I will be making a port out of the extra. I also used the oak powder during fermentation which I think helps out tremendously in the body. I know there is a lot of talk when to add raisins, either during fermentation or after first racking. I am eliminating raisins altogether in the future.

 

[Turock]

We've had mixed results with juice from Chile, but was very interested in the oaking you reported. We have a Cab juice bucket that we fermented and did an MLF on, and I was just discussing with my wine partner about oaking procedures on it. How much of that spiral did you use on the Cab? Where did you get it?

 

[geek]

Good to know Tom, I also bought those 2 varietal juice bucket juices.
Both went through MLF with Lalvin Bacchus.
I made a big mistake on the Cab when added sorbate after MLF, I was panicking and added lysozyme to prevent issues with the sorbate. I had also added oak spirals.

On the Cab I think it is a bit over oaked, being bulk aging and in cold temps in garage for a month or so.
I will start bottling soon I think.

 

[Pumpkinman]

Dan,
I agree, the oak during fermentation has been a key to better wine from Juice buckets, followed by a cellaring and finishing tannin as needed. I couldn't agree more with eliminating raisins, there are so many negative points about using them, the short term gains, if any, are far out weighed by the long term potential issues, but that is for another thread.
Turock, I only buy the french oak infusion spirals, I purchased from Midwest Supplies, I like to keep a package (they come packaged 2 spirals per package) of Medium and Medium Plus on hand. American Oak will be about half the price of French oak Spirals.
I used one whole medium plus toast spiral in the 6 gal carboy, I am so happy that I did, there is a noticeable difference between adding them at the beginning of fermentation, and adding them after fermentation, I prefer to add them during fermentation, I can always add more if needed.
Julie, I cannot wait! I'm really kicking myself for only getting one pail! Odd enough, a few guys that I know that bought Fresh Chilean Malbec & Cab grapes all had major H2s issues.

 

[ForzaItalia]

Hey Tom

Question on the oak spirals, how do you get them to not float ? I bought some French oak Winestix from m&m and can't get them to stay in contact with the wine. If you look at the picture, the stix is in the corner behind the glass vase.

 

[Turock]

Thanks Tom. Yes, there's a difference between oaking the primary and oaking the secondary. We've never oaked at the primary--so I can't even speak to how the flavor is different.

But you used the spiral in the secondary--correct? I'm gonna get some of these and try it out. Thanks for a great post.

 

[Runningwolf]

I was also using spirals with great results during aging. I recently switched to oak stix after getting a fantastic deal on them at the Eastern wine exposition in Lancaster, Pa. If you get a chance to go to it next Spring it is well worth it. I prefer the chips or powder during primary fermentation because of the quick exposure your get from them in the short amount of time.
Remember oak chips and powder give everything up in just a few days. Spirals and stix take months. They will give you a softer finish like a barrel does.

 

[Pumpkinman]

Turock,
I add the spirals at fermentation and uf needed transfer them to the secondary, when added during fermentation, the oak seems to "marry" with the wine.
Dan,
Steve has been telling me about how good the oak staves that you sell at the winery are, I'll be ordering soon!
ForzaItalia/Ilario,
After a week or so, the spirals sink.

 

[Turock]

Oh, I got you Tom. Then do you think I would be wise to use half the spiral in the secondary and see what that does? Next time we do Cab, I'll try it in the primary.

 

[geek]

Turock, I also have used the oak spirals from Midwest and am very pleased with how much oak flavor they impart.....a lot.

 

[Pumpkinman]

Turock, I think that adding the spiral to the secondary would be great.

 

[Turock]

Thanks to both of you--think I'll be a little conservative to start off with. Too much oak is a bad thing.

 

[Pumpkinman]

The recommendations are 1 oak infusion spiral per every 3 gallons, I add half that seeing that i'm going to rotate the wine into a barrel.