Welcome to Stix, Oak Barrel Alternatives

About Us

We are now a second generation family business located in the heart of the Finger Lakes Region. We take great pride in manufacturing consistent quality products, and have always procured Northern American Quercus alba White Oak in fresh logs and processed them ourselves for a premium barrel alternative product.

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Toast Levels

Experience flavors and aromas like never before with StixTM custom milling.



  • Light

  • Medium

  • Medium Plus

  • Dark

  • Burgundy

  • Char



Testimonials

This product is awesome. I can control the flavor of the oak in each demi . You can make the wine have your own unique flavor. The barrels are to much work, but the WineStix® has it beat. I recommend this product highly, reason is that I win in wine competitions and I like that Gino Pinto has these products for me.

— Frank

I have worked with several oak alternative products over the years but now use WineStix® exclusively. I feel the unique design helps deliver more integrated flavor and mouth feel. WineStix® have become an integral component of our Chardonnay and all of our dry reds.

— Shawn Kime, Winemaker at Thirsty Owl

I essentially can produce wines with flextanks and Wine Stix® that are indistinguishable to wines made with cooperage at a substantial cost savings." He went on to say " Amortizing the flextanks for five years (as that is how we do it, knowing they last longer that that) and using Wine Stix® Oak cost less that $1.00 per gallon of wine. Buying a good French Oak barrel amortized 5 years costs $5.00 per gallon (knowing they last longer) makes it a no-brainer for me.

— Dave Breeden, Winemaker Sheldrake Point Winery Finger Lakes, New York Winemaker of the Year Back to Back Winery of the Year

I have used Wine Stix® oak in many different applications of wine making, as well as different oak species and toast levels. Each and every time, I have been very pleased in the over all quality of the end product after using Wine Stix®. They have continuously added great depth and complexity to the mouth feel and great aromas and flavors to the wines made. I have and will continue to include Wine Stix® as part of my production of future vintages.

— Darren Bowker Winemaker Serenity Vineyard

I've been using Wine Stix® for the past year on 20 different carboys. In the past I used med and heavy toast. I just stocked up on a bunch of med toast Wine Stix®. This is a great product. In the past I was using the used stix for smoking on my grill but in the future I am going to follow Wine Stix instructions for second time use and use them on wines I want lightly oaked.

— Dan Wolfe

Last year was the first year trying your WineStix® and they were great!! Left them in for 6 months, thinking I needed to maximize the oak flavors and we got great oak taste. Thanks and we’ll be buying more this season – my friend was impressed as well!

— Mark

Got my Wine Stix®, med toast for the carboys, man these smell great..nice product!! Thank you.

— Bill Surrette

I've used WineStix® for 2 years, trying all toast levels and finding noticeable difference in each providing options for blending. The WineStix® are easy to use in carboys, and especially easy to remove when necessary. Easy to adjust oak levels as exposure is next to barrel aging, slow and subtle. Great product!

— Sam Chiodo