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Oak chips, cubes and staves
Tannin, oak and mouthfeel
oak alternatives, inserts
Flavour and structure from oak without the cost or over-oaking of a barrel.
Typical dose
By taste; cubes over months, chips over a fortnight. Taste weekly and pull them when the oak is right.
When to add it
During ageing.
In practice
At home volumes a real barrel over-oaks badly and dries the wine through evaporation, so cubes or staves in a carboy are the sane route. Cubes give up their oak slowly and taste like oak; chips give up everything in a fortnight and taste like a plank, which is why leaving chips in punishes you. Toast level decides whether you get vanilla and coconut or smoke and clove.