Greg,
I used to just add the Oak after Primary so I could monitor the
"oakiness" of the wine. I since, on the advice of Tom S started adding a
handful of Oak to 5-6 gal (french in my case) to the primary, and lightly
rinsing it at racking and then add it back into the racked wine.
The best way I can describe the difference is that it was a lot
smoother tasting and seemed as you said more "intergrated" into the wine. My
concern initially was that how much do you want to "over oak" the wine
before enough is enough to get it right after it mellows out? For me that
was hard to judge because I was not used to Oaking my wine as a general
rule. In conclusion I have decided that the oak seems more naturally
intergrated into the wine when it is added from the start versus later on.
Yes you can judge the oak more readily when it is added after fermentation,
but the taste is definitely more course when the oak is added later on in my
trials.
The tip from Tom S in regard to Oaking in my opinion is dead on. HTH
John Dixon
"Tom S" wrote in message
om...

"Paul E. Lehmann" wrote in message
...
I know of at least one commercial winery that puts some oak chips in the
primary fermentatin bins and then pumps into somewhat old barrels after
pressing. I think it all depends on the age of the barrels and how much
oak
extraction is wanted. I think the oak has a better chance of
"integrating"
if some is put in the primary fermentation.

Exactly right! That's why barrel fermented Chardonnay (e.g.) tastes
different from tank fermented Chardonnay that is subsequently barrel aged.
The oak flavor is more tightly integrated into the structure of the wine -
partly at least because the yeast tends to fine the harsh wood tannins.

Tom S