Thank you all for the info, will adjust.

Dan

"Alastair Thomson" > wrote in
message news:2004021218103316807%madkiwiwinemaker@visualma giciannospamcom...
> Dan,
> I use 2-3 oz of medium toast french Stavin cubes for about 4 months in my
> Cabs and Merlots. I also tend to use a smaller amount (about 10 cubes) of
> heavy toast American oak cubes on top of the french for about six weeks
for
> more robust wines such as Zin and Shiraz. The small amount of heavy toast
> adds to complexity nicely with some warm vanilla and caramel notes that
> work well for me. This is the receipe for my Shiraz/Cab/Merlot that won a
> gold at the winemaker mag competition, so someone else seems to like it
too
> :-)
>
>
>
> On 2004-02-11 18:42:09 -0500, (Mark Willstatter) said:
>
> > "Dan Swinton" > wrote in message
> >...
> > > Can anyone recommend how much oak to add to a 6 gal. ferment of a cab
> or
> > > merlot to get some noticable oak? I have been trying 2 to 3 oz. of
> cubes in
> > > 6 gals. and have left them in until bottling.
> > > I am making kits.
> > >
> > > Thanks for any advice.
> > >
> > > Dan
> >
> > Dan, if you're talking about the Stavin cubes, I've used them the past
> > couple of years in my Zin. I'm in a 5 gal carboy, I found the first
> > year 2 oz. left in for the duration (I was using medium toast,
> > American oak) gave barely noticeable oak. 3 oz. the next year gave me
> > definitely noticeable but still fairly lightly oaked - about what I
> > was looking for since my wine is not that heavy. Of course what
> > "lightly oaked" means depends on the beholder but hopefully that will
> > give you the idea.
> >
> > - Mark W.
> >
>
>
> The Mad Kiwi Winemaker
> (Remove -nospam for e-mail)