Blueberry wine with oak?

Chuck Rairdan · Dec 10, 2020

So I'm getting ready to do a full bodied blueberry wine mixed with about 15-20% un-oaked Cab Sauv reserve that I have. I will probably back sweeten to taste and likely use glycerin since it would be in the off dry range. Question I have is does blueberry wine oak well? Inclined to use a mix of Hungarian and American oak cubes. Thoughts?

FTC Wines · Dec 12, 2020

We have made A 50/50 Blueberry Cabernet blend which we oaked. We liked it a lot, it we love oak, so add oak slowly to your taste. Roy

Chuck Rairdan · Dec 12, 2020

Thanks, Roy
Same here, love well oaked wines and always try to squeeze in the right amount to reach a solid note.

winemaker81 · Dec 17, 2020

Taste the wine every few weeks to see how it is progressing.

Keep in mind that wine does not have convection currents, so the wine near the oak will be MUCH oakier. If the wine is sediment free, gently stir before taking a sample.

Chuck Rairdan · Dec 17, 2020

Good point. I believe it's a good idea to gently stir the aging wine from time to time to break up the gradients and introduce a wee bit o oxygen, especially with carboys.

Scooter68 · Dec 18, 2020

Honestly I would never stir an wine once you are aging it. Racking time provides plenty of time for oxygen if you really want to add any oxygen. Aging provides among other things, a quiet undisturbed time for fine sediment to drop out, any stirring, no matter how gentle, prevents that and prolongs the time for your wine to clear.

Chuck Rairdan · Dec 18, 2020

I tend to be a minimalist racker: post press to get off the gross lees, post MLF to leave behind those fines, and then maybe a 3rd time over the course of 6 to 9 months depending on amount of sediment or detection of reductive odors. Gentle stirring over that time to introduce limited oxygen and to improve the oaking and reaction gradients. The fines tend to cake up and aglomerate over time and if disturbed settle out again readily in my experience. At bottling time, I use a 5 micron filter on my reds and that has worked well. So far the results have been good and I'm of the view that over reliance on racking to introduce O2 can prematurely oxidize and shorten the cellar life of wines. Interested to hear what other's thoughts are on this topic.