Over oaked, any suggestions

Time. The woody character dissipates over time; after a year you probably won't notice it at all. Rack it a couple of times before bottling, too.

This might be frustrating if you were planning to drink it soon, but pinot is a varietal that ages very nicely, and you'll find other flavors and bouquets developing as well.

Tom wrote:

You can age it a long time or you can blend it with a less oaky wine. I think that is about it.

Ray

Aside from time (which will greatly diminish the taste of oak), you might try fining it with gelatin and/or skim milk. Each of those acts to reduce apparent oakiness. Do some bench trials first on a bottle size portion. I'd try these:

Be sure to dilute the skim milk to a 10% solution with water before adding to the wine, or it will form large curds as soon as it hits the wine and be rendered somewhat ineffective. Prepare the gelatin as a 10% solution in warm water before adding to the wine. Don't worry about the added water. It doesn't amount to very much.

The bentonite and kieselsohl are there to prevent protein instability, which Pinot Noir is susceptible to. I recommend those two even if you don't fine with anything else. Prepare the bentonite by thoroughly mixing it into hot water at about 50g/liter. Let it sit overnight to become completely hydrated and shake well before using. You can just pour in the kieselsohl (with stirring). IIRC 1 lb/1000 gal. is about 70 ml of the 30% solution (as sold) in a 60 gallon barrel.

Be sure to stir the wine vigorously while _slowly_ adding any fining agents you choose. Let the wine settle for at least a day before decanting the clear portion for tasting evaluation.

Taste the samples alongside a control of untreated wine for reference. You should be able to decide on a fining regimen for the entire batch by either interpolating or extrapolating from the results of your tasting.

Do your tasting in the morning when your palate is fresh, before you eat or drink coffee but after brushing your teeth and tongue with just warm water. No toothpaste! Be sure to spit when tasting - at least until you make up your mind on what you like. It's a good idea to have a friend or two help you with the tasting trials as a sanity check, but don't discuss your impressions until after you have each made up your minds. Good luck!

Tom S

You could fine with casein or gelatine to reduce the oak character. (I'd be more inclined to go with casein as gelatine can be heavy for Pinot.)

Ben

Thanks Tom, I'll do some bench testing this weekend.

This is the first I've heard of Pinot Noir needing to be hot stabilized. Admittedly, I am in my infant stages of wine making (5th year) but last yearwas one of my first with fresh fruit. I had read only of the need to stabilize whites.

Is Pinot the only red that has protein issues?

Tom

I'm not sure if it's the _only_ red that does. Some of the other, less tannic reds may also exhibit protein instability.

Tom S

Tom,

very simple! Take the white of one egg, whisk it in a bowl, add some wine, stir en add to the wine. Good for 60 litres of wine.Apply when you are going to rack the wine within a day or two. It clears AND takes tannines away. Test by tasting if you should repeat the treatment.

Ed

"Tom" schreef in bericht news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com...

Tom,

very simple! Take the white of one egg, whisk it in a bowl, add some wine, stir en add to the wine. Good for 60 litres of wine.Apply when you are going to rack the wine within a day or two. It clears AND takes tannines away. Test by tasting if you should repeat the treatment.

Ed

"Tom" schreef in bericht news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com...

Ed,

I'm not trying to reduce tannins, the mouthfeel is perfect. It the "woody" character, flavor, I'm trying to bring down from leaving it on oak too long. Pinot is just to delicate to oak much and I went way overboard.

I suggest again that you do some fining trials. You might be surprised that the mouth feel improves further with fining, and you may achieve your objective of reducing the oakiness to a degree that you find pleasant. What do you have to lose? Your only alternatives are (1) leave it alone and hope that age softens the effect of the wood, or (2) wait until the 2004 crush and blend it with unoaked wine. Actually, there's a third option: blending it with a Pinot Noir made from a kit. Personally, I wouldn't do that, but it is an option.

Tom S

I agree Tom, and as I replied to your post I'm going to try your fining suggestions this weekend on a small test.

My second reply was to Ed's specific suggestion with the egg whites to reduce tannins.

I appreciate all you do for this group!

Thanks