My other hobby is woodworking and I do a lot of work with white oak, most of
what I have is from trees cut 10-15 years ago and stored in a barn. By the
time I take the rough lumber down the the size I need I have garbage bags
full of oak chips. Question - would these oak chips be any good for adding
oak flavour to the wine? The oak originally came from trees in southern
Ontario.

Right now most of it is going as bedding for a local pig farmer and if I can
save some of it and put it to a better use that would be great.

Thanks in advance
Rick

Rick Gibson ) wrote:

>My other hobby is woodworking and I do a lot of work with white oak, most of
>what I have is from trees cut 10-15 years ago and stored in a barn. By the
>time I take the rough lumber down the the size I need I have garbage bags
>full of oak chips. Question - would these oak chips be any good for adding
>oak flavour to the wine? The oak originally came from trees in southern
>Ontario.

>Right now most of it is going as bedding for a local pig farmer and if I can
>save some of it and put it to a better use that would be great.

>Thanks in advance
>Rick


Hi Rick,

I know there are now (and I don't know for how long, though I think
not long) coopers in Canada making barrels out of Canadian white
oak. There are six wineries trying them down in the Niagara region,
I'm told.

I tasted chard out of one at Featherstone, and the oak seemed fine.

Dave
************************************************** **************************
Dave Breeden

Rick,

Red oak is a little more common than white oak in terms of availability,
at least for woodworking in Ontario if I'm not mistaken.

Therefore make certain your oak is not red oak as that can be poisonous.
I would assume the white oak in Ontario is American Oak and therefore
it will tend to lend oakiness and tannins more quickly than european
varieities which are a different species.

Good luck,

Glen Duff
------------------

Rick Gibson wrote:

> My other hobby is woodworking and I do a lot of work with white oak, most of
> what I have is from trees cut 10-15 years ago and stored in a barn. By the
> time I take the rough lumber down the the size I need I have garbage bags
> full of oak chips. Question - would these oak chips be any good for adding
> oak flavour to the wine? The oak originally came from trees in southern
> Ontario.
>
> Right now most of it is going as bedding for a local pig farmer and if I can
> save some of it and put it to a better use that would be great.
>
> Thanks in advance
> Rick
>
>
>

"Rick Gibson" > wrote in message
m...
>
> My other hobby is woodworking and I do a lot of work with white oak, most
of
> what I have is from trees cut 10-15 years ago and stored in a barn. By
the
> time I take the rough lumber down the the size I need I have garbage bags
> full of oak chips. Question - would these oak chips be any good for
adding
> oak flavour to the wine?

Assuming the wood is well seasoned (dried) it would be usable in wine. You
would probably want to toast it some - at least lightly - before adding it
to wine. I'd expect it to be good in Zin or Cabernet, but not so good for
Pinot Noir or whites.

Tom S

Thanks

I have both red and white oak and you can see the difference, much tighter
grain in the white plus the red is just slightly redder. Will toast it
first and see how it comes out the next time I make a batch where I need to
add/buy oak.

Rick

"Rick Gibson" > wrote in message
m...
> I have both red and white oak and you can see the difference

Don't use the red oak. I've heard that it is poisonous - but I'm still
alive.

Red oak just doesn't _taste_ good. White American oak is much better.
French and other European are better still. I recently heard of Russian
oak, but I have never tasted it AFAIK.

Tom S

> I know there are now (and I don't know for how long, though I think
> not long) coopers in Canada making barrels out of Canadian white
> oak. There are six wineries trying them down in the Niagara region,
> I'm told.
>
> I tasted chard out of one at Featherstone, and the oak seemed fine.
>
> Dave
> ************************************************** **************************
> Dave Breeden

If someone whant further information on canadian oak, see the following link
http://www.canadianoak.com/

Séb

"Tom S" > wrote in message
news
> French and other European are better still. I recently heard of Russian
> oak, but I have never tasted it AFAIK.
Russian is pretty much the same as French to most palates. I saw a trial
(from a barrel manufacturer) that said winemakers claim to pick up certain
characters when they know which is which...but often come unstuck when it is
blind.