Has anyone tried this...?

[colorado_wade]

The first kit I ever bottled was an En Primeur Super Tuscan, and it was bottled on 1/14/17. When I bottled it, I wanted to experiment a bit, so in 6 of the bottles, I dropped in 4-5 medium toast American oak cubes, just to see if it would change the character of the wine much. A couple weeks ago, my wife and I opened a bottle that had the oak cubes in it, and it was incredible. We were absolutely shocked at how good it was, and only a little over a year after bottling. The next day we opened one of the un-oaked bottles, and far less impressive. I mean the difference was staggering!! I would put the oaked version up against any $30 bottle I've ever had...it was that good. Has anyone ever tried this, and if so, did you have similar results?

Cheers!

 

[cmason1957]

4-5 Oak Cubes per bottle seems like a lot to me, since normally you only put (and I am guessing at this number) 30-40 in 6 gallons. I am be concerned that it would overoaked. Although, if that's the oak level you like then it works for you. I don't think I would do that. Usually, I leave my oak product in about a week or two longer than I think I should, since I know the oak taste will fall off over time. Not sure that will happen with the cubes in the bottle.

 

[colorado_wade]

that was my concern too cmason1957, which is why I only did 6 bottles. But, with a year and 4 months in bottle it tasted fantastic, and didn't seem over oaked at all. I would equate it to a Napa cab that gets aged in new oak. I would guess that the cubes probably did their job for the first 5-6 weeks, and then don't have much affect after that, but would love to hear more feedback from others that might have tried it.

 

[salcoco]

convention is to oak in bulk. then you can taste and monitor the amount of oak contribute to the wine and achieve the taste level you desire.

 

[Bplewniak]

This is a great idea. I’m going to try it at my next bottling session.

 

[Doug’s wines]

I think I will stick with oaking in bulk. Gives me the opportunity to taste and adjust. Also I give a lot of bottles away and don’t want debris dropping out of a bottle. Really can’t see much of a difference between doing it in bottle versus bulk other than inability to taste and adjust. Out of curiousity, What advantage do you see of doing it in bottle?

 

[Doug’s wines]

After think about it, one advantage would be for the wine maker who doesn’t bulk age, they can oak in bottle. I split some of my batches and only oak 1/2 a batch. I usually like the oakier one more, but a few times preferred unoaked.

 

[colorado_wade]

I never really viewed it as an advantage. It was really just an experiment. I don't have oak barrels, so I never really attained the level of oakiness that my wife and I prefer. I wanted to just try with a few bottles, and found the results to be quite enjoyable. I have a Stag's Leap Merlot in secondary fermentation right now, and will definitely try to get the oak level I want in bulk with some spirals, so I don't have to put cubes in the bottles. But, it was a neat little experiment, and I'm definitely glad I tried it, so I know that good results are possible.

 

[Brian55]

The first kit I ever bottled was an En Primeur Super Tuscan, and it was bottled on 1/14/17. When I bottled it, I wanted to experiment a bit, so in 6 of the bottles, I dropped in 4-5 medium toast American oak cubes, just to see if it would change the character of the wine much. A couple weeks ago, my wife and I opened a bottle that had the oak cubes in it, and it was incredible. We were absolutely shocked at how good it was, and only a little over a year after bottling. The next day we opened one of the un-oaked bottles, and far less impressive. I mean the difference was staggering!! I would put the oaked version up against any $30 bottle I've ever had...it was that good. Has anyone ever tried this, and if so, did you have similar results?

Cheers!

Interesting idea. I believe this requires further experimentation. Going to try it on a few bottles per batch in the near future.

 

[ibglowin]

I bought some Marquette to try before I planted the gapes. It was bottled unoaked and it seemed to be missing something. I opened my remaining bottles and added ~3 oak cubes or beans (Med Toast French) per bottle and recorked with a new cork. Laid them down for 4 weeks and tried one......

Amazing difference. Day and night.

I would much rather oak in bulk but in this instance it really worked out nicely and made it possible to see how the wine would taste they way I wanted it.

 

[colorado_wade]

That was my experience too. The difference was staggering. I'm going to pull the corks on the other 23 bottles, and drop a few in. The bottles with the oak were so much more enjoyable, that it's worth the effort to do that.

 

[4score]

I use oak barrels and I think that's the best way to go. Having said that, I also have extra wine (Cabernet) aging in a tank and some wine in a third-year barrel. I bought some medium plus Amer oak spirals (8") to add to the barrel and the tank. Before I added them, I drew out a half glass sample (from the 3rd yr barrel), tasted it, then stirred the glass vigorously with one of the spirals. I was amazed how much it changed just from a stir! I'm sure some "oak dust" from the spiral contributed to the quick impact, but I was very impressed with the difference. So yes, I would guess a few cubes in a bottle would be impressive as well if you weren't bulk aging.

 

[NorCal]

I see oak like adding spices to food. How much and what kind depends on the food, but too much can ruin a good dish.

My winemaking partner @4score made a best in class Barbera, while my same wine that I over oaked, Barbera wasn’t even entered. The shame of it was that I knew it was a special wine, right from the beginning, and I made the oaking mistake, one which I have not repeated.

 

[ibglowin]

Over oaking is one of those mistakes in winemaking you only make once!

 

[Johnd]

Over oaking is one of those mistakes in winemaking you only make once!

I've done it once as well, a nice Meglioli cab that came out great until I started monkeying around with too many spirals. Had lots of wines going and kind of forgot about taste testing it, its still drinkable if you like fresh cut plywood....

 

[ibglowin]

The only solution is dilution (unfortunately)

 

[Johnd]

The only solution is dilution (unfortunately)

I just give it away to people that I don't like.............