Other Kits and oak

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orto

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Hello,
I am overly sensitive to oak. most commercial wines taste way too oaky to me. I want to make a kit but, I don't want to end up with 20-30 bottles of wine I can't drink.

I don't want to simply discard the oak because I know a certain amount does improve the flavor. I just don't like to actually taste oak, I like when it fades into the background and you don't even know its there. Should I reduce the oak that comes with the kit, pull it out early, or buy larger pieces like cubes rather than chips so it infuses less flavor?
thanks for any recommendations

Edit: it may be specific types of oak or toast level I am sensitive to, because some wines that are heavily oaked like Argentinian wines don't bother me as much as California wines, California wines almost always seem insanely oaky to me, and Bordeaux too to a lesser extent.
 
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Why not weigh the oak and put in 1/4 of what they gave you. Wait for a month taste the wine, if you want more you can add it them. For the oak to mellow out into the background you are talking like aging it for a year. I don't care for oak chips, I taste almost like a faint mildew taste in the wines that have been oaked with chips,(mine and friends wines) i use oak spirals now and havent had that taste since.
 
You could make your wine per the instructions, omitting the oak until you wine has cleared, and add the oak provided after it's clear. Then it's just a matter of tasting on a regular basis, and racking off of the oak to another container, leaving the oak behind.
 
@orto

I would put the provided oak in the primary fermenter, because it will only be there a short time, and because it would help be a sacrificial tannin. Meaning, it would not impart much oak flavor but would act to keep other flavors intact through fermentation.

I find kits made to the instructions to be lacking in oak, so I add more: oak powder during fermentation and medium plus toast spirals during bulk aging. Still, my wines do not have an oaky taste to my palette.

That is the great thing about making your own wine; you can customize the way they taste so that you're drinking exactly what you like.
 
Thanks for all the ideas. I'm not sure with I'll try yet I guess I'll get the kit and see what comes in it and go from there.

Thanks
 

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