Starting A Vinters Harvest Blackberry

[Waldo]

Have kinda left this thread stranded but I'm back with it now. SG on the Blackberry this morning was at .996 Right after I checked the SG I used a new toy I got from a friend of mine. This baby works great on putting the shrink caps on your wines.

I put the shrink caps on my Muscadine-Grape

And my Green Apple Riesling...What was left of it

Racked my Port, which is ready to bottle at any time now.

And finally, my wine rack is full and I have 3 cases overflow of Peach, Muscadine-Grape, Port, Blurberry and Shiraz which I will use to dispense to friends.

 

[Maui Joe]

Nice looking wines Waldo!

Awesome wine rack too!

 

[Waldo]

Thanks Maui ..just not optimum for long term storage but as of now it's all I have so it will have to do

 

[masta]

Lookin good my friend and the heat gun is sweet for putin on the shrinks!

 

[jobe05]

Waldo, thosr are great looking wines, good job to you!

Was the green apple a kit? If so, how long will you age it before drinking it? I got a few coomercial bottles last year and really enjoy it. I would like to make some for next summer and wondering when I should start it.


Went to my wine shop today and he had 2 quart jars of 100% Muscadine juice!

So I bought them and am getting ready to make another gallon batch...... ashamed to say, that batch you helped me make is almost gone

. I do have one bottle tucked away for a year though, and won't touch it!

 

[Waldo]

Hey Jobe..Yes, the Green Apple was an Island Mist kit and it was very good at bottling. I am going to get another one soon and tweak it a bit. I cannot any of what I just bottled aging very long as everyone has loved it and wanting more. I am going to keep a couple of bottles for a while but the wine is really made to drink young.


Now...Eat your heart out podner cause asI am posting this, I am thawing out Muscadines thatI picked up about an hour ago and will be starting me a 5 gallon batch tomorrow. I am going to do a pictoral for the forum with this batch so stay tuned and watch for the post. They are a hybrid Muscadine and the grower said that it requires only 2-3 lbs per gallon of wine with these as opposed to the 5-6 lbs required of the wild Muscadines. he gave me a bottle of his that he made last year and it was really good. It was a little sweeter than what I prefer but still very good. Keep me posted on how the juice concentrate works out. How expensive was it?Edited by: Waldo

 

[MedPretzel]

Waldo (or anyone!),





I received one can from Santa (thank you) of a black currant Vinter's Harvest concentrate.


I am almost thinking I'm going to make 3 gallons of it, but wanted some input on your blackberry one. Is it too heavy? I am thinking of making a heavier-bodied wine, but I don't want it too heavy. I'm worried about the dilution if I decide to go with 5 gallons. I want a semi-heavy, semi-light wine. Not quite as light as a zin, but not as heavy as a .... port? I like Cab-Savs, Merlots and (my absolute favorite) Dornfelder, which is a cross between the two.


I even would be willing to top up with a store-bought Cab if I had to, but am still not sure. I also don't want this wine to taste like a black-currant candy or to be overly sweet. I'm a dry-drinker, but would make it so that there's a hint of sweetness to it (for my mom, who bought it for me, but little did she know that it was meant for her birthday, so technically, she bought her own birthday present, minus a few bottles).


What are your experiences? Anybody else have experience with this?


Sorry for hijacking this thread. Feel free to remove this post and post it as a new thread if you feel it should be one.

Thanks!

 

[masta]

I made 2 batches of Blackberry with the Vintner's Harvest Fruit...one 3 gal and one 5 gal each with 1 can of fruit. One can was just right for the 3 gal and a bit thin for the 5 gal in my opinion.


Go for the 3 gal!

 

[jobe05]

A Hybrid Muscadine???? Never heard of that one, but they sound wonderfull! You lucky dog! I opened the bottles and started the Muscadine, I don't think Im going to be impressed at all. Not even a hint of that wonderfull Muscadine smell, More "Grapey" smelling and purplish color than red.... But we'll see how it turns out. Can't wait till next years Muscadine picking season......, My freezer is going to be full! The Juice I bought was $6.95 a quart. I can also get 100% Black Cherry juice and am thinking of a gallon of that to see how it would be.


Martina: Last year I made a Rasberry from a vinters harvest 96oz can and I liked the body of this wine. The directions say you can make 3 gallons or 5 gallons, I opted to do the 3 gallons thinking it would give me a more flavorfull wine which it did. However, I don't know if all the canned fruits would be the same, but mine have been bottled now for almost a year and is still not very drinkable. Im guessing about another 6 months, so I don't know if this would be just the rasberry that would take the extra aging time, or if it would be all the canned fruit. I made a blackberry out of fresh picked fruit and loved it right out of the primary, it's always been great. I may re-try the rasberry and see how it comes out the second time. Keep us posted.


Edited by: jobe05

 

[Waldo]

Martina..I would go for the 3 gallon batch. I think the 5 would be much too thin and you would be disappointed.


Jobe. How was the Muscadine juice processed? And i'm with you on anticipating next years season.

 

[Waldo]

Blackberry racked at .990.

Dissolved 6 crushed campden tablets and 3 tsp Sorbate in 1/2 cup of wine. Drew off about 3 more cups of wine from carboy, added campden and sorbate and degasssed using fizz-x attached to drill.

Almost immediate clearing began

Edited by: Waldo

 

[pkcook]

Waldo,


Do you degas the wine you pull out of the carboy before you use the fizz-x. I'm thinking about buying this gadget, but want to know how it works.


Pat

 

[Waldo]

I do not degas what comes out Pat. It is a small amount and has never seemed to hurt any of my wines by not doing that. I did it on one batch once but could tell no difference. The Fizz-X is definately the way to go podner.

 

[MedPretzel]

I completely agree with Waldo, Pat. I do the same, and it works great. Since you degas more than once (at least I do), the stuff I take out gets dumped in again, and in the next round some gets taken out again. I believe it's such a minimal amount that actually is not degassed that you could disregard it.

 

[bilbo-in-maine]

Pat - You have the option of quickly degassing the small amount removed
by putting it in any sanitized container that you can place your hand over
and shaking it for several minutes. This takes CO2 out effectively. Then
add to the main batch as usual.

Bill

 

[Waldo]

Racked my Blackberry whichcontinues to clear nicely and was very pleased as it has retained more of the Blackberry flavor than my first batch did.

There was very little sediment left in the carboy after racking so I believe that in anoher 4-6 weeks it should be ready to bottle.

Blackberry now racked and will continue bulk aging unil ready for bottling. I believe this is going to be a very good Blackberry wine.

Put his pajamas back on him and put him back next to his cousin, the Muscadine which also continues clearing and wil be ready to rack in anotgher couple of days

Not a thread for it but here is a picture of a Wine ExpertPort I bottled the end of January. It was my first truly successful attempt at doing a Port and thus far I am well pleased with its outcome. Very fruity flavors, oak not overpowering but detectable and a nice finish. May bring a couple of bottles of this to our Spring ( Whatever we end up calling it )at Georges.

Edited by: Waldo

 

[OldWino1]

That is a hek of a crafsman comerical for the drill HAHAHAHAHAHA also wald do you sleep I noticed the post times 5 am me and my wine are asleep. and those are certainly nice looking wine cosseys.Edited by: OldWino

 

[Waldo]

I am up every morning between 2:15AM and 2:30 AM Wino. Have been doing it for over 30 years now. I am usually in bed by 9:30 pm though. I occasionally watch the 10 o'clock news but not very often

 

[usafcajun]

pkcook,

You active military, retired or a contractor at WPAFB?

USAFCajun
3C0x1

Waldo,


This was a bottled juice batch from the Wright-Patterson Commisary

.


Pat

 

[pkcook]

Still active duty at least for the rest of this year. I've got 24 years in and about ready to hang it up and start another career.