# BLACKBERRY WINE



## Guest (Jan 9, 2008)

09 January 2008 at 010:34am: (*Day 34*)<?amespace prefix = o ns = "urnchemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" />
The must temp is 76° today. The cellar temp today is 55°. The outdoor temp is 66°. Racked the wine again from a light deposit.
I cooked down the berries slowly today. Setting was 1 because #1.5 was boiling the mix. Man do they smell wonderful.
I did not mash, but stirred them and allowed the heat to breakdown the fruit. 
I added 9 oz of the must to the 3 oz of essence i had45 minutes later and set it off to cool.
I gently squeezed the straining bag out and added the potassium sorbate it to the F/Pac and then poured it into the carboy. 
*S.G.= 1.000 *now. 
Still a bit less sweet than I’d like but smoother and fruitier. Added 1 cup sugar in equal amount of must. 
*S.G.= 1.002 Brix = 0.5*now.
Added another 1 cup sugar in equal amount of must.
*S.G.= 1.006 Brix = 1.5*now.
Fantastic aroma! Very smooth and just the right sweetness!
FRAKIN PERFECT!!! Tastes Fantastic! Absolutely exactly what I was looking for and possibly better.
Topped off with ½ cup of purified water &amp; bunged again.
Thanks to all who contributed to the advice.


Next is 6 gals of Raspberry, currently waiting paitently on the shelf for opening and mixing end of the month.
After that....
Sooo many fruits, so little time.


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## JWMINNESOTA (Jan 9, 2008)

Its always great when they turn out like you want / planed!


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## Wade E (Jan 9, 2008)

That just sounds goooooooooooood!


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## joeswine (Jan 10, 2008)

HOW TRUE ,HOW TRUE,


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## Guest (Jan 10, 2008)

So many fruits, so little time. I may not touch a grape till next year.<?amespace prefix = o ns = "urnchemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" />

Hey guys… Where are you all storing your bulk ageing wines prior to bottling, 76° in the house, or cellaring at 55° ?

My next venture, will be a cianti style, raspberry. 
A conversation sipping wine like the Blackberry, semi-sweet, semi dry. 

I'll be starting that towards the end of the month.

I think after that, I'll try the BlackCurrrent that everyone's raving about.

After that, I'm going to try a pear wine. Marcy wants to try that oneand as we guys allknow, what Mama wants is what Mama gets so Daddy canget what he wants too.
I’m looking forward to season this year. I now have picking access to several grape and fruit vineyards. That should be exciting (purple feet and all). I’ll be asking more questions about the types of grapes and wine results soon folks.


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## joeswine (Jan 10, 2008)

WELL&lt;in my case they already set for a minim of 6/8 moths.finished,then I bottle everything ,if you take into account how many different times of the year that I can make I need to keep my fermenters open ,thats why I go right to bottles,which in between time gives me time to dislable or fine the funds to buy the bottles and sanatize them,so that I can keep moving on,bottles always' this way you can enjoy your effort or have someone else enjoy your work when ever you wish to hand out a bottle or two and as you progress you'll find out you will give it out,for sure


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## Guest (Jan 14, 2008)

ZOWIE!!!


I bottled 30 bottles of my blackberry tonight and came out with 1/2 bottle extra which I am delightfully, sipping away as I write.
Of the three batches I've made to date, This batch is by far, the best I have ever tasted.
It represents everything I've ever thought a Blackberry wine should taste like and possibly a smidge more.
But I'm bragging



.
Anyway.
On to the darkness of cellaring for another 6 months and then we'll see again.


Thanks once again to all who contributed to this effort. Especially Joe.


On to Raspberry!!!


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## joeswine (Jan 15, 2008)

THANKS HANDYMAN454,it was my pleasure


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## Guest (Jan 18, 2008)

Well...
I left them babies sit upright for a day to dry out the cork and seat it good then retired them to their horizontalbeds for the next 6 months.


Funny. It's much easier to resist the alure of the wine when they're sleeping beneath the house than when it's sitting 8 feet away from you in an open carboy.


Raspberry this weekend!!!


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## Waldo (Jan 19, 2008)

Sneak down there while ther asleep and get us a picture of them babies handyman


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## Guest (Jan 19, 2008)

Northern:


Went down below quietly this evening and snapped a couple shots.
That's them in the box (running outa room in my rack), the right rack and part of the left rack. There's 30 all total.




















































While I was down there though, one of the little guys woke up and sat up groggilly...








But I cood him right back to laying down and going back tosleep!


Sweet dreams my little darlings. See you this fall.


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## NorthernWinos (Jan 19, 2008)

Shhhhh!!!! They are resting.


How cold is it down under there????


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## Guest (Jan 19, 2008)

At the moment we have snow outside (31 deg), about an inch and a bit more expected through the night.
Down under though, it's a nice crisp 55 deg.


How are you guys faring out?


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## NorthernWinos (Jan 19, 2008)

-19.5*F at this hour...Warm and toasty inside.....


Warding off Cabin Fever watching the Barret Jackson Car Auction.....Wealth is not distributed evenly in this country!


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## Guest (Jan 19, 2008)

[chuckling considerably]


Yea. Perhaps.


But...


Wealth is likewine.
Not enough and your life sucks.
Enough and youdesire more.
More than enough and you're life is fulfilling.
Too much and your life sucks again.


The trouble is in either stopping at "enough" orgetting to"more than enough" without crossing over into "too much."


Happiness and excitement is found in the journey. The destination is just an anti-climax.


Keep your ears warm and send out lots of emails. Company is just a couple keystrokes away.


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## grapeman (Jan 20, 2008)

We are doing better here. It's a brisk -2* presently with a high of 12 expected. We still have adequate insulating snow cover at about 12 inches after the thaw a week or ten days ago. The snows come in quick little 1-4 inch bursts now. We are down to about 3 months of winter left- maybe more maybe less.


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## joeswine (Jan 20, 2008)

HANDYMAN 454//HI GUY haven't forgot their packed and ready to go ,but I started ripping out my masterbath for rehab and getting ready for the tile people and low and behold at the top of the steps waiting to come to you one blackberry and a razz,to the post office this week for sure my friend,glad to see you first born are doing alwright

jp


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## Miss Rocky (Jan 24, 2008)

Handyman....do you have a label designed for those sweet babies yet?


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## Guest (Jan 24, 2008)

As a matter of fact Miss Rocky, I do indeedy have a lable for them!




I took the idea from several wine labels that I'd seen in the grocery store and used Paint Shop Pro 3 to make it.


I copiedthe pic and the backgroundfromdiferent Websites, cut and pasted them to a new image, added the text and...


Taaaa Daaaa!


Here it is.


The back label was done the same way.






I'm in the process now of putting together my Raspberry Wine label which will have a similar format.


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## grapeman (Jan 24, 2008)

Nice label handyman. It looks great and I love your back label. I only say the following because I want it to be perfect. Check the spelling of the word discobveries. I do that all the time-hit tewo keys at once(like that).Discoveries......


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## Guest (Jan 27, 2008)

Waag. Didn't see that. [chuckles]


Got it fixed now though.


Thanks Apple.


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## Guest (Mar 20, 2008)

Interesting note here.


Whilst browsing the canned fruit section of my favorite grocery store, I found several varieties of Origon fruit base in 15 oz cans marked, 9.5oz blackberries in light syrup.
All this for $2.50 a can.
The way I figure this, is 6 cans is 90oz. That's $15.00


One 96oz can of Vintners is $25.00


Hmmmmm.


I also found 15oz cans of apricots in light syrup at $1.50 a can,

I also found 15oz cans of tart cherrys in light syrup at $1.50 a can and 

I also found 15oz cans of sweet cherrys in light syrup at $1.50 a can.


My head's spinnin.


I think I'm gonna do some speramentin here.


Anybody else tried this yet?


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## Wade E (Mar 20, 2008)

Those are not the same but will probably work but with different results. The Vintners Harvest is pure juice and fruits with no syrup. What are the ingredients in the syrup?


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## Miss Rocky (Mar 20, 2008)

Yes, we have tried it, using the fruit cocktail. We made a wonderful wine from it. Everyone we share our wine withhas enjoyed it. We tried it as an experiment also, with very good results.


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## Guest (Mar 20, 2008)

Wade:
Can reads... Blackberries, water and natural sugars. No preservatives.


Rocky:
Thanks for the come back. I was wonderin but fairly confident.


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## Wade E (Mar 20, 2008)

That sounds good then!


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## joeswine (Mar 21, 2008)

hay buddy sounds like a fruit wine plan to me,keep us informed///yours jp


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## NorthernWinos (Mar 21, 2008)

Those cans of Oregon Fruit Base sound like a good deal....I got Vintners Harvest Blackberry in the 96oz can and thought it was very short on fruit and heavy on liquid [of one sort or another] I added two bottles of WinExpert Red Grape Concentrate and made a nice batch of wine.

The Vintners Harvest Black Currant was nice and thick and full of fruit, it made a wonderful wine that everyone here raves about. So, I think the Vintners fruit bases vary in consistency....some might be thicker and have more fruit in them than others.

Keep us Posted on your wine...


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## Miss Rocky (Mar 21, 2008)

We had the same experience with Vintner's Harvest. The Raspberry was full of fruit and juice, the apricot had very little fruit and was mostly juice. We were still able to make wonderful wines from both.


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## tcb54 (Mar 21, 2008)

I made my first batch of Country Wine a week or so ago. I used the Vintner's Harvest Blackberry. I also thought it was quite short on fruit and heavy on liquid... what's up with that?


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## Wade E (Mar 21, 2008)

The Black Currant contains no fruit at all, but Im not looking for the fruit, just the flavor. Like getting a MM All Juice Kit, most dont come with raisins but it still makes an awesome wine. Like George says, its not the fruit that makes a good wine, its the juice. The Vintners Harvest bases are in most cases better juice then you can get at any grocery store, but not as good as out of your back yard or from a really good fruit stand. Most fruit at grocery stands were picked early some where else and shipped early hoping that it will reach ripeness as it gets to where it was going. There is a huge difference in that method vs. waiting for it to get ripe on the tree or vine.


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## joeswine (Mar 21, 2008)

i had the black current from wade and excellent product but if you feel at times its not fruity enought make an f/pac ,if possible consentrated it down,and addit in the end bost the flavor,enhance aroma,even frozen fruit is available in most cases,think out side the box,taste ,taste even before creation,i will try the black current it was that good!


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## bj4271 (Mar 24, 2008)

Handyman,


I just drank the last of a 6 gal batch of mixed tart &amp; sweet cherry wine from those cans. It was pretty darn good.


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## Guest (Mar 30, 2008)

As I understand it, the cans read Contents: blackberries and blackberry juice. No water added.
Hey folks. The cansread, 3 gallon and 5 gallon recipes and the 5 gallon says "lighter" right on the label.
That to me, implies if you stretch one can to 5 or more gallons, it's gonna be light on fruit.
That's why I buy two cans. That makes a frightfully, full bodied, rich flavored wine.


Seems like a good deal to me.


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## Wade E (Mar 30, 2008)

I agree that that 2 should be used per 6 gallon batch. I wish I had done that instead of being cheap and stretching the 1's i did in the beginning but that is over now. I did have to add concentrated juice when back sweetening to get back some flavor on those batches.


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## Guest (Mar 30, 2008)

I went out today in the 41 degree, North Carolinadrizzle (that feels like 20 degrees) andcleared 8, two foot diameter circles of grassin the back yard in preparation of planting my 8, Lowe's (Let's do something together) blackberry plants.
I'll continue this string in the "Home Vinyards" section as I go along in my novice gardeners notesif anybodies interested.


Happy wining!!!


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