Too late for oak chips?

My blueberry port has been clearing/aging for the past year in multiple carboys and jugs. I have kept up on my campden tablet additions at every other racking. I arrested its fermentation at around 14% which raised it to 21% (everclear addition) last January.

One thing I neglected to add was some oak chips to get a slight woody flavor/aroma. Is it too late to add oak chips at this point? I haven't decided yet about what I will do, but I hope to leave it in bulk storage at least until it is 18 months old before bottling.

If you're planning on the extra 18 months anyway, it's not too late for the oak.

It's never too late for oak. It's a great addition in Port-style wines.

is it true you can rinse the chips when done and reuse?

mordantly said:

is it true you can rinse the chips when done and reuse?

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I guess you could. They would be less "oaky" and have a possibility of contamination, so I wouldn't see the point. I paid about $1.00 an ounce for medium toast American oak chips, and I use about an ounce per batch so I can't imagine it would be worth it.

When I oak, I usually rack onto the oak chips if I'm using chips or just add the oak spirals/cubes if I'm using them. Taste often for flavor- you want the wine to be just slightly overoaked since it will mellow with age. I usually leave mine about 1 month on chips before racking off and a bit less for spirals.

I used to use a product called "oak boy". It was just an oak stick that I dropped in the carboy. I rinsed and reused it a couple more times. Larger pieces are more practical for reuse. It won't hurt but like Yooper said, oak's inexpensive and it's better to use fresh oak.