Oaking Question(s)

[RJBanks]

In my continued quest to improve my winemaking skills I have been attempting to educate myself on oak alternatives.

I am a kit wine maker and make a veriety of wines from either RHS,CC or US Elite. These kits often come with oak chips or powder. I have read several articles stating that there are mush better alternatives such as cubes, beans or spirals.

I would like to incorporate this "better" alternative to my wine making but must admit that I am now confused as to "how" to start using these alternative methods.

From what I have read, the spiral method seems to be the best(?) for kits.

Any advice regarding a starting point i.e. what type with what wine, how mush and how long would be GREATLY appreciated....Thanks in advance for the assistance.

 

[Wade E]

I wouldnt say any of them are better. Some of these are just a much slower process as there is much less surface contact with the oak making it take much longer to oak your wine making it much easier to monitor. I like the Spirals and cubes myself but have never tried the beans. Besides using chips and dust the others need to go in when bulk aging or at least are much easier to do then so you dont have to deal with racking them but the spiral is very easy to switch over. I just tie some fishing string on the spiral and leave the string outside of the bung so I can grab it and pull the bung off and pull the spiral out. With the cubes or the beans you can just pour in what you want or you can use a Stainless steel oak infusion container.

 

[cpfan]

I have not tried the spirals, but they do look interesting.

Back in April 2006 I started a Vinterra Merlot pail that was a bit old (kit made Feb 2005). I substituted some Hungarian oak cubes left over from an RJS kit for the powder included with the kit. The cubes were added to the primary and then moved to the carboy. The kit was started April 29th, and the cubes were removed on May 31 when the wine was stabilized. This wine was WAY oaky than we expected, although it definitely has mellowed over time. Had another bottle last week (I think there's another two left). The wine was much better now that the oak has mellowed.

Point of the tale...be careful, you may get more oak than you wanted. But that may just encourage you to age it for 3-4 years.

Steve

 

[Tom]

Oaking will help all reds. Butt, it's all up to "your" taste. I like the med toast and add 2 cups to my reds.

 

[RJBanks]

I wouldnt say any of them are better. Some of these are just a much slower process as there is much less surface contact with the oak making it take much longer to oak your wine making it much easier to monitor. I like the Spirals and cubes myself but have never tried the beans. Besides using chips and dust the others need to go in when bulk aging or at least are much easier to do then so you dont have to deal with racking them but the spiral is very easy to switch over. I just tie some fishing string on the spiral and leave the string outside of the bung so I can grab it and pull the bung off and pull the spiral out. With the cubes or the beans you can just pour in what you want or you can use a Stainless steel oak infusion container.

Thanks for the info guys. Wade, I like the fishing line method you mentioned.Does any one suggest using the spiral(s) in the primary and secondary fermentations or just in the aging process or both fermintation and ageing? ? Also would this method be used in place of or in addition to the chips that come with the kit?