Looking for ways to improve my Blackberry wine

[Main man]

Last September I made 2 gallons of Blackberry wine using 8 lbs of fresh Blackberry's. Looking through the posts on this forum, I probably should have used more than 4 lbs per gallon to start with. The wine tastes good now but I would like to kick it up a notch to get more blackberry flavor and a little more sweetness out of it. I have 5 lbs of fruit in the freezer that I was saving for other things. I'm interested in adding that fruit to the existing wine but I'm not sure if I can or should do that. If I can, I don't know what the best approach to doing that is. I love port and it crossed my mind that maybe this is an opportunity to make port but again, I'm not sure of the best approach. I have never made port before. Can anyone give me some guidance on if I can add the fruit to the wine now and what that process should be? Do I have an opportunity to consider making port with what I have at this time? The PH is at 3.51 now if that is relevant to where I'm at and what I might end up doing. Thanks for your help!

 

[winemanden]

I'm sure whatever you do, you'll love it, but you won't be making Port. You'll be making fortified Blackberry dessert wine.
I know, I know. Nit picking again. Got to say it though.

 

[Scooter68]

Just start another batch. Although it sound silly perhaps - do a 3/4 gallon batch and you can then blend that into your existing wine. Just going from 4 to 5 pounds per gallon will increase the flavor of the new wine but won't give you a really stronger wine to use for blending. I use wild blackberries and they are great at a rate of 5 lbs per gallon because they are lower water content - more concentrated, Domestic berries, store bought or home grown, tend to be somewhat pumped up with water and lower flavor.

 

[Rice_Guy]

you are basically looking at making an F-pack which brings up ADD sorbate.
@joeswine ideas?
or look through the thread "tweeking cheap kits"
... edit
yup you can start a new ferment with associated time lag

 

[winemaker81]

There's a lot of directions to go with this.

@Scooter68's idea is my first thought as well. You might even cut the water to 1/2 gallon to get a higher fruit ratio. OR purchase frozen blackberries or other dark fruit and make a gallon batch with 10 lbs of fruit. Normally I wouldn't recommend that much, but since you'd be blending in 1:2, this will give the final blend a better blackberry flavor.

If you want a higher ABV, e.g., a port-style wine, start the new batch with a SG 1.100 or a bit higher, use a high potency yeast, and when it hits 1.020, feed it a bit of sugar at a time until you max out the yeast. Bulk age for at least 3 months, let it clear, stabilize with sorbate/K-meta, and blend with the first batch.

That's the quick explanation. If any of this is of interest, ask questions regarding anything that is not clear.

 

[Main man]

Thanks! The timing to start another batch is not good for me. I'm thinking of going the F-Pack route and topping up with blackberry brandy to up the alcohol. What do you think of that idea?

 

[winemaker81]

@Main man, your idea should work fine. If you add enough brandy to push the ABV over 18% you can skip sorbate, but I'd be cautious regarding that.

You can probably use a Pearson's Square to determine the ABV after adding the F-Pack, and again when adding the brandy.

 

[SLM]

Main man, my very first project was a blackberry port style using this recipe Making Blackberry Port | Saanich Sommeliers
I made it without having a clue what I was doing. I put some of it in bottles to follow its progress. 6 months in I'm pleased with the results. The recipe calls for cognac which drives up the price but it does taste like port.

 

[hounddawg]

all above at exhalent, but another way to improve a blackberry, is time, blackberry needs 2 years of aging,
Dawg

 

[Rice_Guy]

F-pack plus adding brandy would work,
option 2 ,,, if you are adding extra alcohol would be cleaner making an extract of one part fruit to one part 190 proof alcohol (like making vanilla extract)-> age a month-> press the pulp (could do the extract process in a nylon bag) -> settle a few days in a tall jar (spaghetti jar) -> add the clear liquid to your wine,,,,, has highest yield of flavor ,,,
option 3 ,,,, freeze berries -> press to create a filtrate/ juice -> mix one to one with a grain alcohol-> age mixture for a month in a tall jar (could run less than 1 to 1 since 20% ABV is stable/ kills everything) -> pull the clear liquid off with a turkey baster and add to the wine

Thanks! The timing to start another batch is not good for me. I'm thinking of going the F-Pack route and topping up with blackberry brandy to up the alcohol. What do you think of that idea?