MLF, Oak, Chardonnay, evOak staves- Questions

Jan 26, 2006 9 Replies
P

Good Evening-



I've been speaking to a few people here privately around oaking different wines and upon their advice have purchased some Stavin cubes, medium and medium + toasts.



My first foray into Oak was with a 3 stave test kit from evOak

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I followed the test procedure outlined, letting the stave sit for 3 days in a bottle of unoaked chardonnay, removed the stave, tasted, and discovered I'm not much a fan of wet 2x4. Three days later (50% of the wine gone) the super strong 2x4 taste/smell had faded, leaving something very over-oaked yet palatable. I've got 12 more test vials to work from (chips) so we'll see what the next test will do.



That said, I have 15 gallons of chardonnay that's been racked off and has been sitting at 66F for 3 months, and another 15 gallons of chardonnay that is still fermenting (should rack this next week). I'm told the only way to get the buttery taste I'm looking for is to perform a MLF- my alcohol on the sitting wine is near 14% and I expect the fermenting wine to get at least to that point.



So, having read several posts on the subject and not been yet satisfied, what would be the easiest way of performing a MLF and oaking at the same time?



Should I...



1) Let the 15 gallons that's been sitting for 3 months go- It's an OK wine right now, skip the MLF and the Oak since it's been too long
2) Oak the 15 gallons of sitting Chard and Oak the 15 gallons of fermenting ASAP, then innoculate the 15 gallons of fermenting Chard as soon as it's racked to a secondary
3) Innoculate both and Oak both?


4) Some variation thereof?



I'll be ordering some SO2 titrets from

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- 10 SO2 test kits for about



13$ shipped- to ensure that if I do perform a MLF I'll be able to do so without fear of killing my new friends.

Suggestions are most welcome- I originally bought the Chardonnay to experiment with Champagne and blending some Pinot Grigio but I may have lost sight of the original plan.



Finally, are there *any* cheaper Chromatography kits then what I've seen advertised as 80$? I can't believe the prices for 3 acids, some paper, and a polar/nonpolar solvent. Geez there wasn't a day at work when I used to go thru at least 15 glass plates!



Thanks in advance-



Jason



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M

Try this company for Malic test kits:

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You can find them cheaper from other companies.

I'm currently frementing a chardonnay on stavin oak beans. French medium toast. After the fermentation I'm going to put it through ML fermentation. I'm also going to let it Sur Lies.

I also added stavin med+ oak to another chardonnay. It ended up being over oaked and I don't think I'll do that again. I was on the oak for

4 weeks. 1) Let the 15 gallons that's been sitting for 3 months go- It's an OK wine right now, skip the MLF and the Oak since it's been too long

might not have enough lees for the MLF.

2) Oak the 15 gallons of sitting Chard and Oak the 15 gallons of fermenting ASAP, then innoculate the 15 gallons of fermenting Chard as soon as it's racked to a secondary
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R

You'll find that oak integrates and mellows with time. What is over-oaked at bottling can end up being quite nice 3-6 months later.

These are largely stylistic questions. You need to ask yourself what type of wine you want to produce? Lean and crisp? Fat and fleshy? Something in between? You can still put number 1 (above) through MLF, it's not too late. If the pH is above 3.2 and the sulfite levels are low (say 20ppm or less) it should be ok. You may need to warm it up a bit to get things going and add you'll need an ML nutrient. For number

2 (above) you needn't wait until alcoholic fernmentation is complete to innoculate for MLF. Concurrent fermentations are often done. Again, it is a matter of style.

Preque Isle

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sells an ML chromatography kit that I use. It's about $40.

Good luck, RD

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J

I was going to suggest Presque Isle too; I knew I didn't pay $80...

Joe

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M

Kind of hijacking...

My Chardonnay is almost done fermenting and I'm doing MLF on it. Should I rack it or leave it in the current carboy so as to have the lees for the malolactic?

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T

Depends on what you're trying to achieve. If you leave it on the lees the "butter" flavor will diminish. To retain that you need to run ML after racking away from the gross lees, and then away from the ML lees when that's done.

OTOH, Chardonnay left on all the lees for ~ a year can be pretty nice.

Tom S

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P

Light Oak, medium butter. That's a nice chardonnay for me. I've done the acidic and dry- I've got plenty of that sitting around- and I'd like to round out the whites downstairs.

Just so many experiments to run... I need a bigger laboratory.

I purchased the chromatography kit from Piwine.com - they've forgotten the pipettes which made it rather interesting, but other than that so far I think it'll work. Wish I had my silica plates like work but that stuff is expensive...

We'll see how the next few weeks progress.

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M

Would I leave all of the lees in the carboy before and after ML? I was thinking of doing sur lies.

I don't want to much buttery flavor.

Tom S wrote:

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P

Go to Ben Rotter's site at

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under Articles there is one on sur-lie aging. Read that first, it should answer most questions.

Pp

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