Extreme oak taste - getting worried

[Wiccan_Lager]

Hello everyone,

I have a 6 gal carboy of Petite sirah/zinfandel and alicante blend that I just racked off of a 3oz bag of light toast american oak. They were in the wine for about 2 months, as recommended on the bag. I am, however, quite concerned. This is my first time ever using oak cubes.

The taste of oak is incredibly strong. It overpowers the wine completely. I am hoping that as the wine ages for a about another half a year that it will mellow out but I don't know for sure. At the moment, it tastes like firewood that I spilled grapes into.

Will the flavor of the oak mellow out as the wine ages or is this a "what you taste now is what you get" situtation.

 

[Boatboy24]

The oak flavor will fall back. How much though, I can't tell you. I do know that I have wines that were very oaky to me six months ago and are not so now.

 

[winemaker_3352]

It will mellow out over time - you might need to age this a good year though - depends on how much oak you like in a bottle of wine..

So taste test and see where you like it...

 

[tonyt]

Huuuum, oak is such a subjective thing. What's plywood to you might be velvet to me. Of course all that matters is what YOU prefer. Yes the oak will fall off in time. IMHO the oak falls off more and faster in carboy than in bottle, I can't back that up but it seems so in my experience. I am an oak monster so when I falls off I get disappointed so I now try to do my oaking towards the end of bulk aging. Give your wine a few months and I'll bet it settles down quite a bit. I'm a big proponent of adding a few (4-6) ounces of simple syrup a months or so prior to bottling. That seems to mellow out any harshness to me and I'll bet it would help calm down the oak. In the future remember to taste weekly when oaking regardless what the instructions say. I pull oak just past too much knowing it will settle out just a bit. Good luck and report back. And if it's still too oakie for you I'll pm you my address for disposal.

 

[Wiccan_Lager]

THank you all for your responses. I am happy that the oak will mellow out as it ages.

I like a nice oaky flavor in wines. But I never had it in home made wine. So i tried it with a carboy to test it out. Now while I like oak in my wine, this was a bit out of control. It tasted more like "I put wine in my oak".

I will let this sit for at least 6 months. This is my first batch and I want these bottled so I can start my second batch.

First batch is always the hardest.

 

[vabeachbear]

I wouldn't worry too much. I can tell you that I like oak in my reds. My Super Tuscan last year was the first in a new barrel and I thought I probably let it stay in too long.

So I bulk aged in the carboy for 10 months before bottling. At bottling, still thought it was a little too oaky.

1 month after bottling, I tried a split (my thought was if it hadn't changed much, I was going to rebottle with some additional non oaky wine to mellow it out).

Surprise, surprise, wine had totally mellowed out and just the right amount of oak.

Only 7 months left until 1 year in bottle and two years total, can't wait.........

 

[tonyt]

. My Super Tuscan last year was the first in a new barrel and I thought I probably let it stay in too long.
..

How long did you leave it in the new barrel? If it was a kit did you use the provided oak also?

 

[vabeachbear]

I left my first ST in the barrel for 8 weeks. Its a long story so I won't type, but I think on my next one, I'll only leave for 6 weeks. A bit oaky coming out, but it has mellowed a bit after bulk aging and bottling.

My second wine in was a cab, was able to leave it in 5 months. It was not as oaky coming out of the barrel, but after bulk aging it is oaky but not over bearing.

My next new barrel I think I'll go more along the lines of;

1st - 6 weeks
2nd - 4 months
3rd and on - 6 months

I always use all the oak provided with the kits during fermentation, regardless of the species. My barrel is the Vadai Hungarian med toast.