Cherry instead of oak wood

[Mismost]

So...I have a red sitting in a carboy and it just needs a "something"...it's OK, just kinda one dimensional.

Was thinking about adding more oak. A trip to the LHBS showed they only had oak chips. But, they did have some Cherry Wood Honeycomb sticks. I thought nawww...then I though why not? I'm always reading about "hints/notes of cherry" in red wine descriptions. Questions:

1. Has anybody tried using cherry wood while aging? I was there...six bucks later, I now own a hunk of holey cherry wood.

2. Was thinking of tying a string on to the stick and weighing it down with a brass fishing weight so it stays submerged. Would it be OK to use brass in the wine?

Thanks!

 

[cilestiok]

1. I have not used cherry in wine or beer for that matter but I would love to hear what it does for your wine.

2. I would avoid using brass of any kind in your wine as it often has a small percentage of lead it in.

 

[pumpkinman2012]

I would be interested in hearing what cherry does to the wine, check out the following link, Click Me it talks about aging on cherry wood.

The hints of cherry in wine descriptions usually is due to the yeast that is selected to bring out different characteristics, and the oak that you select, and the combination of both.

I took a 30 gallon batch of Cab Sav and split it into 2 separate batches, one fermented with a tradition Bordeaux yeast (BDX), the other fermented with RP15 yeast, this yeast claimed to bring out berries and red fruits.
The Cab that was fermented on the BDX is exactly what a traditional Cab Sav should be, amazing as a single varietal or blended, the 2nd batch fermented with the RP15 yeast is absolutely amazing! The berries and fruit jump out at you with the tannins still present in the back of your palette; Everyone that has tasted it loves it, mind you, these are still aging in barrels, the BDX Cab is in a french barrel while the RP15 cab is aging in a Hungarian barrel - approx 11 months in the barrels so far, I plan on aging them about 2 years before I bottle.

The point of my long winded post is that so many things can influence the taste, aroma and mouthfeel.

Check out the article and decide what you would like to do, I don't think that the cherry wood will hurt the wine, is it toasted at all? That is yet another consideration.

Keep us posted!

 

[Mismost]

To update...I let it sit in the carboy for a month and bottled yesterday. Frankly, I don't know if it was the cherry wood or just the extra time in the carboy, but it sure tasted nice. Flavor was better. May be a head game but I knew the cherry wood was in there and I wanted to taste it...think I can...subtle, not over powering and kinda comes with the finish.

Two others tasted it, no mention of cherry...so it may be all in head!

 

[pumpkinman2012]

Very cool! I'll have to experiment one of these days.
Thanks for the update!