French oak provides a fruity, cinnamon/allspice character, along with custard, milk chocolate, and campfire/roasted coffee notes. The campfire/roasted coffee notes are more noticeable with higher toast levels. As the toast levels increase, the fruity notes for the wine changes from fresh to jammy to cooked fruit/raisin in character.
Cubes (also known as Oak Beans) offer the home winemaker control and flexibility during red and white fermentations and aging. StaVin’s slow fire-toasting creates the same traditional flavors found in the production of fire-toasted barrels. Unlike Fermentation Chips, Cubes offer a slower, more complex extraction, matching barrel flavors.
Best results will be achieved by fermenting with the Cubes and leaving them in the wine for the duration (until filtering and bottling).
Using Oak Cubes aids in the stabilization of color and helps cross-link tannins, which builds structure in wine.