RJ Spagnols Oak in Grand Cru Chardonnay

[RJMehr]

I just today racked my Grand Cru 5 week International Chardonnay to a 6 gallon carboy for secondary fermentation. The airlock is bubbling away.

I really love big oaky/buttery Chardonnays and am planning to add oak to the Grand Cru Chardonnay. The kit came with a tea bag of heavy oak chips that I dropped in during primary fermentation.

When do I add more oak to the wine? Do I wait until </span>after stabilizing &amp; clearing? </font></font></span>I am thinking that this Chardonnay needs at least six months bulk aging.

I am planning to use </font></font></span>about 2-3 oz of Hungarian Oak Cubes in a sack. How long should I leave the oak in the Chardonnay wine.

 

[Jack on Rainy]

RJ,
Wehaven't made this kit but have made the "buttery chardonnay" as postedelsewhere on this forum.We also like to add supplemental oak. We have done that during extended lees contact or during bulk aging and sometimes both if we didn't get enough or the right flavor during XLC. In one case, we waited until after six months of bulk aging. Oak contact time around 8-10 weeks for each oak addition.

 

[RJMehr]

Jack,

Thanks for your reply. I am a newbie at making wine, drinking wine is another story. I have a 35 year history at tasting the vino.

Two questions, "what is extended lees contact" and are the Hungarian Oak Cubes (medium roast) a good choice.

Robert

 

[RJMehr]

Jack,

I searched for buttery chardonnay and came across this posting:

"Buttery Chardonnay

Here is what Tim has to say about it.

Our kits tend to have a softer, more complex flavour profile than you might expect. We achieve this partly by carefully choosing our oak styles and the protocols for using them. By including the oak in with the fermentation (instead of after) we get a much softer profile, which includes some butter and vanilla notes, as opposed to woody or smoky characters.

Now you can’t do malolactic on the kits. It will end in tears if you try. However, there is a technique called ‘battonage’ that will help fatten up the finish of the wine, and give it a rich, creamy mouth feel. Here’s the deal:

* Make you kit up as normal, and rack to the secondary carboy on day 5-7 as directed.
* After ten days, ignore the instructions about fining and stabilising. Instead, add one-quarter teaspoon of metabisulphite powder to the wine, and gently stir it up with a sanitised spoon.
* Get all of the yeast sediment in to suspension, make sure it’s nice and cloudy, but don’t splash or agitate.
* Top up with some decent Chardonnay wine (this is better than using water for this technique). At three or four day intervals, go back and stir the yeast up again.
* Repeat every three or four days for a month.
* Let the wine settle for two weeks, rack it into a clean, sanitised carboy, and follow all the remaining instructions on schedule, omitting no detail however slight.

By stirring the yeast into suspension repeatedly you get the benefits of the amino acids they carry, along with a host of compounds—principally mannoproteins, which give they creamy aroma and mouth feel.

Good luck, and I hope you enjoy your kit.

Cheers,

Tim Vandergrift
Technical Services Manager"

Is this the "extended lees contact" you talked about?

Robert

 

[grapeman]

Welcome Robert.


That is what Jack was talking about. It works quite well for making the Buttery Chardonnay style wine.


As far as oak, I would go with the French Oak myself instead of the Hungarian for this kit. It imparts more natural oak flavors associated with the Chardonnay. The Hungarian works better for full body reds.


Good luck with the kits.

 

[Jack on Rainy]

That is it. You might also read this topic: http://www.finevinewines.com/wiz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4296


Find a method for extended lees contact in this thread on this forum: http://www.finevinewines.com/wiz/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5375
What we have been doing is right after the wine hasfinished fermenting, and you have rackedoff the gross lees into a carboy, add kmetaand let it sit a couple of months before degassing and clarifying. Wemay alsobe oaking during that period with some of the wines. From whatI have been reading, that process is more like making fruit wines and adds complexity to the finished wine. it certainly seems like jjk1991 got good results andwe are liking the results too.

 

[Jack on Rainy]

Appleman,
Do you suggest the lighter french oak, house toast, or heavy? I am ready to bottle this one and might keep some in jugs for further oak experiments.

 

[RJMehr]

Appleman or anyone who knows,

I have French oak chips (light, house or heavy toast) or Hungarian medium toast cubes for use in my Grand Cru Chardonnay. Any thoughts about oak chips. The more I learn, the more it seems that cubes are the better way to add oak to wine.

Robert

 

[grapeman]

Probably the house toast for that one would be good. I like the cubes better myself. They come out easier than the chips. Robert if all you have is the chips, go with the house toast French chips. I find the Hungarian medium toast oak to be a bit heavy for the chardonnay.

 

[RJMehr]

Thanks Appleman for your wisdom concerning the oak chips/cubes. I have seven days to go before I start the "extended lees contact procedure (Battonage)" to my chardonnay.

As I already have some in house, I will add 3 oz. of French house toast oak chips to the chardonnay. I have read that oak chips can be added directly to the wine, not in a muslin sack, as they will sink to the bottom after a while.

I am going to follow Tim Vandergrift's instructions for a buttery chardonnay (Battonage). I will let everyone know how things proceed over the next several months.

Robert

 

[RJMehr]

Just a quick note: I have started the Battonage (extended lees contact) treatment for a Buttery chardonnay. I have not added any additional oak yet. In the Primary Fermentation stage, I added the oak teabag that RJ Spagnois provided.

I am planning to add 3 oz of French oak chips but have deceided to wait until the Battonage treatment is finished. Am I right in my thinking about the adding the oak after the extended lees contact?

Robert

 

[PeterZ]

Robert,I would wait. The reason to wait is that if you find the oak level is where you want it but you are only half way through the extended lees contact, there's no way to get the oak out.

 

[RJMehr]

Robert,I would wait. The reason to wait is that if you find the oak level is where you want it but you are only half way through the extended lees contact, there's no way to get the oak out.

Peter,

That is what I was thinking also. Wait until the Battonage is over, then add my oak chips and have the flexibility to rack the wine if it get's too oaky.

Since I am a newbie at this, I hope I will be able to taste when to rack the wine off the oak.

I must say that wine making is the MOST addictive thing I have even done. I now see why lot's of people quite their jobs, buy some land, start planting grapes and open a winery.

I pitched my first yeast 3 weeks ago, I now have 5 kits under primary or secondary fermentation. I just order a WE Australian Chardonnay kit last night and am bidding on a RJS Pinot Gris (Grigio) on eBay.

How do I stop this madness, (no, I do want to stop the madness), I am having too much fun.

Robert