Leaving oak spirals in the wine

[jimk]

Is there any reason to bother taking an oak spiral out of wine that is bulk aging? It supposedly is fully extracted after 6 weeks and I'm wondering if it's worth fishing around the carboy to get it out is wort the effort.
Jim

 

[grapeman]

Have you tasted the wine after inserting the spiral? It is a good idea to taste every week or so for the first month or so and remove the spiral when you taste enough oak. If it has been more than 6 weeks, you might as wll leave it in there until racking again.


Welcome to the forum.

 

[AlFulchino]

Rich said it all...taste.....taste..taste...when its too much then remove because it will back off.......you COULD leave it in there if the oak was all extracted and if by removing it you would get air space and did not want to add marbles etc

 

[jimk]

Thanks for the answers and welcome. I am experimenting with using various sized pieces of oak spirals and was a bit concerned about air space but also spending time fishing the spiral out without the airlock on.
Thanks again
Jim

 

[vcasey]

Jim some folks will attach a fishing line to the spirals to make pulling them out easier.

 

[hannabarn]

I use dental floss. It is already sterilized!!

 

[smurfe]

I use floss as well. In regards to your question though, it all depends on the size and extraction you get. You really need to sample for extraction. It is easy to put more oak in, it isn't to take oak out. Contrary to what many say, letting the wine sit and mellow won't take out too much oak. I have a Cab that has been sitting 5 years waiting to "mellow".