oak barrel aging red blend wine from a kit

[steveb3]

Hello all, I am new to this forum and have been making wine from a kit now for 3 years. The first 2 years were a real learning process and I wasn't overly happy with my results. I made a merlot/cab blend the first year and a merlot/shiraz and chianti last year, all kits from Vinafera. I think my lack of knowledge to the process and mediocre wine kits made for a not-so-great product.This year I have a Grenache/shiraz/mourverde blend from Winexpert going. I'm aging it in an oak barrel I bought in June and so far it tastes pretty good, It's been in the barrel for a month now after the initial steps were taken to get it to bottling. I'm reading that although aging in a barrel can be a great enhancer to the process, you have to be discreet with the amount of time you leave it in the barrel before bottling. It will be 4 weeks next Monday. My question is should I bottle it after the one month period, next week, or give it some more time? So far the oakiness is not overpowering and I'm liking the added flavor. But I don't want to cross the line and mess up a good thing either. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Steveb3

 

[pumpkinman2012]

Steveb3,
Getting a better wine kit was a good idea, Winexpert offers high end kits such as the blend (GSM ) that you are making.

As far as the barrel, is the barrel a 6 gallon barrel?

If this is the first time any wine has been in the barrel, you should be able to leave the wine in the barrel several months, depending on your personal preference, just remember, a GSM blend is a light blend.
I'd taste a sample every few weeks until you reach your desired level of oak, I usually age my wine in a barrel until it is just slightly more oaked than I like, the oak will dissipate as the wine ages, I usually rack into a demijohn or carboy after the wine has reached the level of oak that I prefer, but needs more time to age.

After the first wine has been through the barrel, you'll be able to barrel age the next wine longer, depending on the wine.
If necessary, I'll age the wine longer off the oak until it is finished aging.
I would recommend aging 6 months to a year at the very least.

I hope that this helps.

 

[steveb3]

Hi Pumkinman 2012,

thanks for the insight. Yes this is a 6 gallon barrel and it is new. From what you have told me I should be okay leaving the wine in the barrel for the full 3 months as I planned before bottling it. That will put it right into the first week of Sept when the weather starts to cool off a little here in Pa where I live. Right now the temp in my basement has been 70-73 for the past 2 months and been ideal for the process. My plan was to get it bottled and on the rack by the end of summer. I'm guessing the oaky flavor will not be overpowering even with that amount of time in the barrel and will diminish a bit after bottling. Sound about right?

Steve

 

[pumpkinman2012]

Three months should be fine, just make sure that you taste and top off every 3 weeks or so, if the wine was a Bordeaux blend, the Cab Sav can take more oak, but again, it really depends on what you like. I'd age that GSM as long as you can, it'll get better as time goes by.
Even after you bottle, you can bottle age the wine.

 

[steveb3]

Thanks. I'll update when I go to bottle in Sept

 

[pumpkinman2012]

Looking forward to it!

 

[steveb3]

So I've tasted the wine in the keg and it's getting a nice oak flavor. I'm probably going to bottle in the next week or 2. But I don't want to the keg to go unused all winter. I had a thought of filling it with wine bought from the store to keep it full and add some oak flavor until I go to make a new batch next summer. I could rebottle the store bought and have that to drink
until the new batch has reached maturity. Any thoughts?

 

[Tribe Fan]

Hi Pumkinman 2012,

thanks for the insight. Yes this is a 6 gallon barrel and it is new. From what you have told me I should be okay leaving the wine in the barrel for the full 3 months as I planned before bottling it. That will put it right into the first week of Sept when the weather starts to cool off a little here in Pa where I live. Right now the temp in my basement has been 70-73 for the past 2 months and been ideal for the process. My plan was to get it bottled and on the rack by the end of summer. I'm guessing the oaky flavor will not be overpowering even with that amount of time in the barrel and will diminish a bit after bottling. Sound about right?

Steve

Can I ask where you got the barrel? I am in the Cle Akron area and have a batch in the fermenter now.

Great and timely thread BTW, thanks.

 

[steveb3]

Sure I bought it on Ebay. The seller had a great review rating and the keg was professionally made and airtight. The wine has really improved since I added it to it in July.

 

[steveb3]

So I bottled the wine from the oak barrel the first weekend of fall. Now that's it's aged for about 6 weeks the taste has mellowed out really well. The barrel is the way to go!