Wine Stix

[winemom]

My local winemaking shop carries several varieties of oaking supplies, including Wine Stix (http://www.winestix.net/?page_id=330), They are made for carboy use and seem quite convenient since you can easily remove them when you feel the wine has had enough oaking. I bought a light toast stick for some seyval blanc and a medium toast stick for some merlot I'm making.

Has anyone used these before?

They are quite inexpensive, but I can't help but wonder if I could sand them a bit and reuse them in similar wines. What do you think?

 

[s0615353]

I have never used the Wine Stix, but I do use the oak infusion spirals on my wines. Other winemakers have said that get stuck in carboys, but I have never had this problem. All you need to do is rack the wine out of the carboy and shake the spirals out of the opening. Personally I would not reuse the spirals because I am afraid of bacterial growth since wood is very porous. If you wanted to reuse them I would recommend treating them like an empty wine barrel and store them in a solution of acid and sulfite, and then make sure they are very dry with a hair dryer or heat gun.

 

[Bartman]

At 1/2" thick, I doubt you will have much left after sanding down both sides to get to 'raw' wood. The wine will permeate through at least 1/4" on each side at least after 4-6-8 weeks (I sometimes leave oak spirals in for 2-3 months), so I don't think you would be able to sand down to a level that it wasn't "used up". I expect that's why they are 1/2" thick - that's the narrowest they could be and get the full effects for one carboy. I could not find on the website how long the carboy 'stix' are, are they more than 12" long?

I use oak spirals when I am selecting my own oak, but American oak spirals around $8 for two (each about 10" long) while French oak are $14 for two. These French wine stix are a little better price, it seems.

 

[winemom]

The stix are 1/2" by 1" by 17" long. They have holes in the ends so one can suspend them in carboys using sanitized fishing line or similar. I won't be reusing them, but was just curious. I really like the idea of being able to remove them whenever I like, so we'll see how it goes this year. May try the spirals in the future!

 

[Rocky]

Winemom, I have not tried it but I have seen some on the forum who save their used oak and use it in their barbecue to impart additional flavor. I think they clean it with hot water, dry it and save it for the appropriate time to use. Sounds like a good idea to me.

 

[winemom]

I've heard the barbecue idea before, and that sounds like a great idea. Should be easy enough to cut them into pieces that will fit in the smoker box.

 

[s0615353]

That is a great idea, I need to start saving my spirals. I have heard of people doing this with used wine barrels, but not with spirals.

 

[tonyt]

I have and do use the sticks you are asking about. They impart tons of oak very quickly so taste often. I only use them if I know my wine needs lots of added oak. Otherwise I use spirals as they take a bit longer and are easer to monitor oakiness. You can also cut one in half.

 

[winemom]

Tony, that is good to know. That sounds like the way to start. The sticks have holes drilled in both ends so suspending half a stick won't be a problem.

 

[Woodman]

WineStix®

WineStix® products are pieces of oak milled with a unique shape that allows faster extraction of flavors in the short grain and complexities of gradience toasting in it's long grain within the same piece of wood!
So the initial perception of stronger Oak flavors diminishes as the complexity increases as the deeper wine penetration takes place over time. The one Winestix® per 5-6 gallon carboy of wine is equal to a new barrel flavor and complexity, no winery makes a complete wine from new barrels only; the wines are made from different age barrels that give less and less flavors and are blended into the new barrel wines.
So to cut a WineStix® in half does work (and by the way costs less.) This allows the wood to stay in contact with the wine long enough to gain the complexities that it will deliver. It takes between 2 and 3 months for the WineStix® to sink in the wine so allow this much time to get what it has to offer. Tie a piece of fishing string thru the hole in your WineStix® and thread it thru the airlock hole and you can pull it out when you are ready. Check out www.winestix.net, "in the news" has good things.

 

[alphacat63]

What about soaking the wine stix in bourbon for a period of time? I'm planning on making a port soon. King Family Winery in Crozet Va makes a FABULOUS port which they age in Woodford Reserve barrels. My goal is to see how close I can get to their port. Pehaps I'll use Makers Mark instead and save (try to anyway) the bourbon in case I decide I want or need to fortify it.