Adding oak to my Cabernet

[seanomac]

I have not made wine in a couple of years and decided to try making Cabernet Sauvignon from a bucket of fresh juice vs pressing grapes this time.

Primary fermentation completed and I racked over to a carboy. Very little sediment with the fresh juice (it did not come with skins, just 6 gallons of juice). I added an MLF culture and let it sit for about 8 weeks now. Temp has been fairly constant at ~66F. I don't see any small bubbles anymore, so I think MLF has completed. I don't have a test, so I'm basing it on looks. I'll taste some tonight.

Anyway, I thought I'd try oaking the wine this time. I went to pick up some chips and ended up with these spirals. Seemed easier. American medium toast.

Question - should I add my pot. metabisulfite now and toss in the oak, or should I wait until the oaking is complete? I didn't sulfite before since I was doing MLF, but I'm getting concerned that it will go unprotected for possibly several weeks while the oak is sitting. People also say to taste it every couple of days to make sure it's not over-oaked. Any experience here?

 

[Yooper]

I have not made wine in a couple of years and decided to try making Cabernet Sauvignon from a bucket of fresh juice vs pressing grapes this time.

Primary fermentation completed and I racked over to a carboy. Very little sediment with the fresh juice (it did not come with skins, just 6 gallons of juice). I added an MLF culture and let it sit for about 8 weeks now. Temp has been fairly constant at ~66F. I don't see any small bubbles anymore, so I think MLF has completed. I don't have a test, so I'm basing it on looks. I'll taste some tonight.

Anyway, I thought I'd try oaking the wine this time. I went to pick up some chips and ended up with these spirals. Seemed easier. American medium toast.

Question - should I add my pot. metabisulfite now and toss in the oak, or should I wait until the oaking is complete? I didn't sulfite before since I was doing MLF, but I'm getting concerned that it will go unprotected for possibly several weeks while the oak is sitting. People also say to taste it every couple of days to make sure it's not over-oaked. Any experience here?

Sulfite when MLF is done. Then you can rack onto the oak spirals into a new carboy with no sediment at all. The spirals are nice- they give up their oakiness slower than chips in a less "rough" way, if that makes sense. You can oak it, wait a couple of weeks, and taste. When it's just a little too much oak, then you can rack off of the spirals and bulk age the wine.

 

[seanomac]

Thanks Yooper. I'm planning to rack and sulfite this weekend. I'll take a taste, add the oak and check again after a couple of weeks.

I've never oaked before and don't want to overpower the wine. My father-in-law got a complaint from his wife that his wine tasted like wood.

Now, what to do with the 2nd spiral? I'm considering soaking it in some Wild Turkey or Knob Creek and adding it to a stout. I'm collecting ingredients next week to attempt the Founders Breakfast clone. Maybe I can make a KBS clone with the whiskey soaked spiral?