"Paul E. Lehmann" > wrote in message
news
> Ray wrote:
>
> > It is my understanding that oak barrels do more than add oak to wine.
The
> > breathing is very important to the overall effect. If you can only
leave
> > the wine in these barrels for a very short period of time, you would
> > probably get the same effect from oak cubes and it would be cheaper.
> >
> > Ray
>
> This has not been my experience with a 10 gallon barrel. The wine is MUCH
> better from the barrel than with just oak cubes in a glass carboy. My
> barrel is about 4 years old now and I cycle wine through every three
> months. I check for full and top up every two weeks. It has never been
> empty longer than what it takes to empty the barrel and bottle and
re-fill.
> It is just now getting to the point that I am not over oaking my wines.
> When it is completely neutral, I may add a few oak cubes to the barrel but
> even if I don't, I think several months in barrel makes a big difference.

Yea, Paul. I agree. He was talking about 1, 3, and 5 gal barrels. The
cycle time in these would be so short there would be no breathing and I was
suggesting that he would get the same effects with oak cubes and glass.
With 10 and larger, the cycle time would probably be long enough to be
beneficial. Since his range of barrel sizes extended up to 20 gal. I should
have commented on that.

Ray