Yet another oak question!

First of all I would like to say that you will not achieve the same result with oak chip than the flavor you will get with a barrel. On white wine you should use less chip than on red. Also, if you use very lightly toast chips on white and not for a too prolonged period of time, you will get the best result. But, don't worry as the oaky flavor ( or smokey ) will disapear slowly. So just wait and bulk age your wine for a few month and let the wine age also in bottle for a year and you will be terribly surprise I think. In my experience, for white wines, I like to use light toast american or french chips 30gr and put it in a cheese cloth with a small marble and I put the bag in the primary fermenter one day after pitching the yeast. The marble keep the bag always in the bottom of the primary pan and when you rack the wine it's easy to grap the cheese cloth for disposal. Then, I don't add any more oak in the process. Sometime I will add the oak after the primary fermentation in the carboy. At this moment, I will use just 15gr of light toast chips and let it there until my next racking. I use oak mainly for some of my Chardonnay and Sauvignon. For the red wines, I like to add medium american or french in the secondary or during the bulk-age period. I will add 30gr. at each racking. If I whant more tannin, I add the oak during the secondary and add new chips at each racking until I bottle the wine. For less oak and tannin I will add my chips only at the end of the bulk-age period, just before filtering and bottling. Sometimes, I use high toast chips ( dark brown ) but they are very tasty so I use it only when I have a wine that show a good structure and must aged them for a longer period.

Best luck... Séb

That's basically true - but not because the wood is different. A barrel allows very slow, controlled oxidation of the wine. This does not occur inside a carboy with chips.

You might consider using a different source for your oak. Lots of home winemakers (and pros as well) use the so called "beans" made by StaVin. They have flavors that are as close to a barrel as you're likely to find, and come in toast levels from light to heavy and several different oak forests.

BTW, the best time to put them into the wine is during the primary fermentation. Leave them in for the secondary and bulk aging too, to taste. As for how much to use, that's a matter of personal taste. I'm sure some of the others here can offer opinions on that topic.

Tom S

I agree with your statement from a home winemakers perspective. However, advances in oak barrel alternatives, delestage fermentation, and micro-oxygenation systems are fast approaching barrel aged quality. I personally believe that there will be a shift toward non-barrel oak addition in the future on many standard and some premium wines. I think it will be not unlike the shift to non-cork closures with resistance at first followed by acceptance by a few premium leaders. IMHO, barrels are a great tool for adding oak complexity and allowing slow oxygenation to fix anthocyanins and soften tannins. The main problems with barrels, however, are cost, consistency and maintenance. Did I mention the cost?? Non-barrel oak alternatives can also be more environmentally friendly products. All that said, however, a room filled with finely crafted barrels has an ambiance that stainless steel tanks don't quite achieve!

CHEERS!

Aaron