Too Much Oak

[DriftlessDoc]

Well $hitballs. My LE17 NZ Merlot was coming along really nicely. I added two spirals of oak for the past 2-3 weeks. Its been about 5 or 6 days since I tasted, and the oak is overpowering. Very green tasting oak. It was American Medium Toast.

Anyway, I think I read that the oak will fade. The whole kit is only about 3 mon old. My gut says leave it in the carboy (oak removed obviously) and check in a month. Am I on the right track?

 

[jgmann67]

Well $hitballs. My LE17 NZ Merlot was coming along really nicely. I added two spirals of oak for the past 2-3 weeks. Its been about 5 or 6 days since I tasted, and the oak is overpowering. Very green tasting oak. It was American Medium Toast.

Anyway, I think I read that the oak will fade. The whole kit is only about 3 mon old. My gut says leave it in the carboy (oak removed obviously) and check in a month. Am I on the right track?

I’d do the same.

 

[Ajmassa]

I also found out the hard way how much American medium spirals can give off. No better way to commit it to memory! Most of my winemaking knowledge comes from effing up and then researching how to correct it.
Next time try ONE French medium or light for a full 3 month interval- should be a much more subtle oak essence extracted. Goal is to complement the wine’s profile- not replace it.

 

[NorCal]

I also found out the hard way how much American medium spirals can give off. No better way to commit it to memory! Most of my winemaking knowledge comes from effing up and then researching how to correct it.
Next time try ONE French medium or light for a full 3 month interval- should be a much more subtle oak essence extracted. Goal is to complement the wine’s profile- not replace it.

I am a spiral fan, but one spiral per 5 gallon and I don’t touch the medium plus toast anymore for the same reason @Ajmassa5983 mentioned.

 

[Venatorscribe]

Well $hitballs. My LE17 NZ Merlot was coming along really nicely. I added two spirals of oak for the past 2-3 weeks. Its been about 5 or 6 days since I tasted, and the oak is overpowering. Very green tasting oak. It was American Medium Toast.

Anyway, I think I read that the oak will fade. The whole kit is only about 3 mon old. My gut says leave it in the carboy (oak removed obviously) and check in a month. Am I on the right track?

You can only sit back and wait. I did similarly a while back. I ended up bottling it and it is now under the house maturing. Mine was very heavily oaked. Not spirals - but chips. I used over ten gms per litre when it should have been around four to six gms. I honestly thing mine will need at least two more years. So bottle it. Then make another batch.

 

[salcoco]

it may take a year. if wine is clear I would bottle and then check a bottle every 6 months.

 

[Ajmassa]

It’s tough to judge. My overoaked batch got an American med spiral for 3 months. Then for some reason I did another. Removed after 2 months.

6 months later the wines at 15months and not bottled. Some days oak still seems too strong— other days it seems just fine. My palate likes to randomly change for no reason

 

[tjgaul]

I believe that the oak mellows and integrates over time and that the naturally occurring remediation is more pronounced the younger the wine is. At only 3 months old you have plenty of time before you would naturally bottle it anyway (assuming a longer bulk aging for a LE kit). I'd follow a normal racking schedule for 2 cycles and see how it progresses. Might turn out to be your best batch ever.

My first Pinot Noir got both a spiral and some cubes and was extra oaky at 3 months. A year later the oak was well integrated and not the dominate character. It must have been palatable - there's only one bottle left.

 

[DriftlessDoc]

Thanks everyone!

 

[bstnh1]

"$hitballs"? That's how you address people you're asking for some help?

 

[Ajmassa]

"$hitballs"? That's how you address people you're asking for some help?

lol. I don’t think he was addressing us AS ‘shitballs’.

I read it more like “well, I’ll be damned....I screwed up”. “Well FML....I overoaked”. “Well shitballs....I screwed up and here’s what happened”.

Kinda funny that you read it like that. “Listen up ******** I need some advice” wahahahahaha

 

[tjgaul]

AJ knows how to win friends and influence people!

 

[DriftlessDoc]

lol. I don’t think he was addressing us AS ‘shitballs’.

I read it more like “well, I’ll be damned....I screwed up”. “Well FML....I overoaked”. “Well shitballs....I screwed up and here’s what happened”.

Kinda funny that you read it like that. “Listen up ******** I need some advice” wahahahahaha

Hahaha his is correct. I havent met anyone on here that I'd call a shitball. Shitbags maybe... Just kidding! Sorry for any confusion.

 

[BigH]

I added two spirals of oak for the past 2-3 weeks

So how many total spirals did you add, and to what volume of wine?

Waiting is about all you can do. Might want to buy another kit and get it going for the sole purpose of blending.

H

 

[bstnh1]

Hahaha his is correct. I havent met anyone on here that I'd call a shitball. Shitbags maybe... Just kidding! Sorry for any confusion.

Sorry about that. Guess I read it the wrong way!

 

[Bts]

I'll second blending. I just did something similar 2 weeks ago, but fortunately with only half a cheap merlot kit that I had split to compare tweaked vs plain. I bottled some of the over-oaked one to see how it matures, but I blended some of it 50/50 with the unoaked one and those bottles taste perfect. If you don't want to do another kit now, you can always blend it later on, a bottle at a time, with something you make later, or even commercial wine, and then re-bottle whatever you're not going to drink immediately. I've occasionally broken down 1.5L bottles and boxes into beer bottles since they're much more convenient for the occasional weeknight consumption. Never had a problem with it, though I generally re-bottle immediately, and top them to about 1/4 inch below the cap. I figure I'll eventually do the same with the rest of my over oaked merlot if it doesn't mellow out enough in a year or so.

 

[DriftlessDoc]

So how many total spirals did you add, and to what volume of wine?

Waiting is about all you can do. Might want to buy another kit and get it going for the sole purpose of blending.

H

2 Spirals to 6 gal.

I removed them. When I sampled the wine to check it initially when I freaked out, I took wine right next to the spirals which was super oaky. Since having removed them, its already died down. Still a green oaky sort of taste but not overwhelming.

To lessons to learn from this:

Spirals let out their oak quickly.

AND

Take a deeper sample, not a sample right next to the spiral for a more accurate reflection of how it tastes.

 

[Noontime]

I had an intentionally over-oaked cab (going for a smokey oak for steaks and BBQ) that took a few years to mellow out. Every wine is different, but I'm glad I just waited it out. Turned into a wonderful big red.

 

[Scott Harbison]

I'm glad I read this! I have two medium plus oak spirals arriving this week for my recently finished Merlot kit. The kit tastes a bit thin and I'm hoping the oak will help it out. It looks like the smart thing to do is just add one spiral. Maybe I should break it in two and just add half of one?

 

[Ajmassa]

I'm glad I read this! I have two medium plus oak spirals arriving this week for my recently finished Merlot kit. The kit tastes a bit thin and I'm hoping the oak will help it out. It looks like the smart thing to do is just add one spiral. Maybe I should break it in two and just add half of one?

I think your cool with 1 on Merlot. Just check on it routinely. After 3or 4 weeks ya might find it where you want it. And if a little heavy on oak then just remember it does fade some in time.
Only way to learn for sure is by dropping in and finding out.
Btw- a tip I learned here (I learn everything here) for oak spirals is to tie some fishing line to it ran thru the bung. Makes a huge difference for removal. Plus allows to keep it in the middle of the carboy.