Chilean Reds - Petite Syrah and Barbera

[ffemt128]

Both have been sitting on oak for 7 weeks. Sampled both and they are tasting quite good at this point. Will be racking again this weekend. Both seem as though thy could use a little more degassing. I think when these are a 1-2 years old they will be quite delightful.

 

[robie]

Sounds great. You will likely rack these a few more times. If so, by the end, what leftover gas you have now just might be completely gone.

If you are concerned about the CO2, if your sulfite levels are good, next racking, do a splash rack.

Are you using a vacuum pump to degas?

 

[ffemt128]

Using a vacuum pump to rack and degas. I have enough carboys at this point that these will sit hopefully until at least next year before being bottled. I added to spirals of medium American oak to each 5 gallon on June 5. I'm sure there will be several more rackings between now and next year, CO2 will definately dissipate. Last night was the first sample since adding oak. I generally don't go with 2 spirals since my wife isn't wild about heavily oaked wine but I was impressed and pleasantly surprised at the taste so early on.