Oak Chips for Vinification and Maturing
What are oak chips?
Known in oenology as "chips", oak chips allow you to improve the quality of your wines during the vinification and maturation of your wines.
Why choose wood chips for winemaking and maturing?
More economical than a traditional breeding, the oak chips are very easy to use. By choosing the wood chipsyou can sublimate the grape at a lower cost by using fruity and/or woody notes. Depending on their use, it is possible to correct the imperfections of maturity of your grapes and thus improve the quality of your wines.
What are the regulations for the purchase of oak chips in oenology?
Namely, the Regulation of the European Economic Community allows the use of wood chips of more than 2 mm thickness:
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for breeding since December 20, 2005,
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for wine making since July 10, 2009.
For more information, the French Institute of Vine and Wine in Occitania answers the questions of winegrowers through a practical information sheet on oak chips.
What is the origin of the oak wood for the winemaking chips?
The fresh oak wood in the chips comes from two species, French and American (Quercus Petraea and Alba) air-dried for a minimum of 24 months. Quality is at the heart of our wood manufacturing process.
How can the tannin and aromas of the wine be enhanced by the oak chips?
The size of the wood chips influences the diffusion speed of the wood compounds in wine. This explains its difference in complexity with the staves. The oak pieces in the wine improve the sweetness and theunctuousness which are two characteristics highly sought after by the consumer.
Depending on the desired results, the wood chips can be introduced before, during or after the alcoholic fermentation and maturation. The earlier they are used in the process, the more the woody aroma will melt into the wine.
Discover the method to use to introduce the wine chips in the fermentation
The oak wood chips are sold in 10 kg bags with 2 infusion nets (composition: food grade polyethylene) of 5 Kg. Our recommendations for use in the tanks are :
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Disperse the bags of chips at different heights in the tank using synthetic rope for a very good diffusion and a perfect homogenization.
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Precaution: at least one pumping over every 15 days to homogenize the tank.
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Monitor and maintain free active SO2 ≥ 0.6 mg/L and free SO2 > 30mg/L
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Short contact time: 2 months
See other products :
Blends, microstaves, staves, barrel kit, tannins