Santa came early

[Boatboy24]

I'm so giddy, I don't know what to do.

 

[Rocky]

I'll say he did. You must have been a good boy this year!

 

[ibglowin]

I know, fill that bad boy with hot water!

 

[Boatboy24]

I know, fill that bad boy with hot water!

I hear ya! Sadly, my break in wine is in secondary.

My Red Mtn Trio needs more oak and I thought about giving it a two week run in there. But I'm worried that'll be too much. And even then, the Super Tuscan likely wont be cleared and ready.

 

[tonyt]

Lucky you. Exactly how good do you have to be to get a barrel from Santa of Mrs. Santa? And is it too late for me?

 

[oldwhiskers]

Sweet!! How long is your honey-do list now?

 

[ibglowin]

What have you added to the RMT oak wise?

 

[Boatboy24]

What have you added to the RMT oak wise?

Kit oak so far - med Hungarian in primary and during clearing. I was going to layer on some medium French cubes. But I could easily be persuaded to give it a dip in the barrel if that made sense. I have a second RMT that I was going to start soon and use in the barrel. My plan was to break in with the Super Tuscan, wines 2 and 3 will be the RMT and Red Mtn Cab. I'm also expecting a California Grand Red (vineco LR) in January that will go in as well.

 

[Boatboy24]

Sweet!! How long is your honey-do list now?

It's getting up there. Especially as I give my wife a hard time for having too much "stuff" while accumulate winemaking supplies.

 

[Boatboy24]

Lucky you. Exactly how good do you have to be to get a barrel from Santa of Mrs. Santa? And is it too late for me?

Don't have to be all that good, but there are sacrifices involved.

 

[ibglowin]

I would skip the French for now and let this kit be a break in kit of sorts. If you had used no oak at all you could have left it in for 4 weeks (1st rotation) but I would only put it in for 2 weeks max now. Taste along the way obviously!

 

[bakervinyard]

One question, how the heck did the barrel fit down the chimney ? Wish I had one. Have fun, Bakervinyard

 

[Boatboy24]

I was all fired up to prep the barrel today. Sadly, the stopper that MoreWine recommends for this barrel doesn't come remotely close to fitting. I had to order a stopper that won't be here until mid-late next week. At that point, my Super Tuscan will be a week away from "barrel ready".

So now I'm thinking I'll just start with that. I can layer Red Mtn Trio #1 with the French oak. That one used the kit yeast and I also added some Tancor Grand Cru. RMT#2 will use D254 and FT Tannin Rouge, along with barrel aging. Could be a nice experiment to compare them. What do you think?