Barrel Oaking LODI RANCH 11 CABERNET SAUVIGNON

[chrislea]

I am looking for specfic instructions (based on your opinions) on how long to "oak" the WE "LODI RANCH 11 CABERNET SAUVIGNON" kit in a brand new 7.5 Gal. medium-toasted oak barrel.

Specfic questions:
1. Should I include any of the "oak-packages" in the primary fermentation phase?

2. Besides washing the brand new barrel thoroughly are there any other recommendations for barrel preparation prior to racking the wine into the barrel?

3. How much wine should I plan to hold in reserve for "topping up" the oak 7.5 gal. barrel?

4. Are there any changes you would recommend to the published instructions (other additives, timing per phases, etc)?

5. Biggest question: How long should I bulk age in the 7.5 gal barrel prior to bottleing? I suspect the answer to this question will be based on personal preferences but I am asking exactly that...what is your opinion?

6. Any other recommendations advice?

7. Thank-you in advance!

8. Regards
C.

 

[Rocky]

My responses to specific questions:

1. Probably not necessary for the first use of the barrel unless you are a squirrel.

2. Washing is important. Soaking in very hot or boiling water to swell the wood and avoid/minimize leaks is more important.

3. For a 6 gallon barrel, I use about 1 to 2 750 ml bottles over a 2 to 4 week period. If you do a good job of soaking the barrel right before use, this will be minimized.

4. If you mean the instructions from Vadai, no. If other instructions, I have no knowledge of them.

5. Really a matter of taste but bear in mind with a new barrel, you will get a lot of "oak" in the first use and porportionally less with subsequent uses. Personally, 2-3 weeks for the first time is enough for me.

6. Make sure you use a silicone bung, not the wooden bung that comes with the barrel normally. Also, you chose a very nice variety, IMHO, for your first oaked wine.

7. Good luck!

 

[ibglowin]

Just curious as to why you would chose a 7.5 gallon barrel if your making kits? If you are doing fresh grapes it makes no difference I suppose but our carboys are 6 gallon (or less) and the kit makes 6 gallons. You have a lot of dead volume (1.5G) now to fill with something!

If the kit came with 2 different types of oak, say American Oak sawdust and Hungarian Oak cubes I would add the sawdust and skip the cubes. You will be missing out on the "layering" of different oak flavors if you only oak with the single type. It will turn out fine either way but I feel it will make a more complex wine in the end if you leave one varietal out of the mix. Oak added in primary will really get incorporated in to the wine in a different way than oak that gets added after all fermentation is complete.

 

[chrislea]

Thank-You

I miss spoke..it is a 5.0 Gal oak barrel.....So you recommend adding oak to the primary...if different species than America oak (new barrel is American Oak)....this is intriguing...and I very much appreciate you sharing your expertise!

 

[ibglowin]

Ok that is much better then! Most of the kits come with Hungarian oak and many/most of us that have small barrels are also Hungarian oak so no layering effect really.

In your case you have American oak which is VERY different flavor profile than Hungarian. Only add it if is something different (than your barrel) for the layering effect.