You are correct........I have a collection of kit wines apprx. 700 bottles and have fun with it. As a basic rule of thumb I oak during primary and secondary (Reds and Chard) after the second racking while clearing and using the degassing whip I actually add oak during the whipping (15 minutes) stage. I find that the vigorous agitation speeds things up by a month. I Bottle after two months add a 1/4 tsp of Kmetta and have nice wine thats 5-7 years old........It works for me IMHOI only use oak chips during primary fermentation. I use 16 grerment right in fams per gallon on the reds. Oak chips are 90% used up in just a few days making them a good option during fermentation. I don't like the taste (bitterness) they leave when added while aging although it does go away after racked off of them in about three months. I prefer to use oak spirals or Stix for aging. If I was doing a white (Chardonnay) I would just wait til I was aging to add the oak if I was using carboys. Chardonnay and Viognier I ferment in barrels.
Only harvested from male oak trees?They are Oak balls..
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