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

I've been using 1/2 to 3/4 cup of "oak chips" bought at the wine kit store
(over and above what was provided with the kits). Kit instructions usually
say to add the oak at the 1st step (in primary). I add the extra at the
last step (prior to filtering) and let it bulk age for ~3 months.

Its very much a matter of personal preference but at 3/4 cup it is quite
noticable (but still at a level that I like). As well, I've been
experimenting with different types of oak (dark French, medium American) but
can't say that I've noticed in particular difference.

"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 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.

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)

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)