Oak

[Dufresne11]

Hello All, I posted in the Oak Tutorial but it doesn't seem to be getting any hits. So I thought I would repost here:

I am about to oak for the first time. I have those disposbable cheesecloth socks from my LWS and the correct kind of oak for my wine. Here is my plan:

I am going to pull out about a cup of wine before I oak and save for a base line taste test

put my oak in

wait for a few weeks?? (chime in here as I am pretty confused as to how long I should oak, everyone tells me "to taste")

Pull out a cup of "oaked" wine and do a taste test with the "pre-oaked" wine to see how I like it.

Sooo.... How long do you oak??

 

[djrockinsteve]

My reds I oak a year. Whites lightly and for 6 months.

We like our reds well paked. Usually add 8-10 ounces per 5 gallons. I have used american and french, medium toast.

I add it as I rack off the secondary sediment and allow it to fall to the bottom of the carboy over the next few days. I remove it when I rack to slightly back sweeten.

 

[Tom]

I oak during MLF. Mlf here lasts 3 months. I use 2 cups in my reds.

Now, How much oak do you like in your wine.

Btw I add the med toast oak loose in the carboy. U gonna age in a bucket with the oak? I wouldn't as I dont trust the seals that long. Why use the bag?

 

[djrockinsteve]

On another note after you have oaked, you need to stir or rack to evenly distribute the oak flavor throughout the wine. Don't bottle directly or you will have some more oaked than others.