Big Garden Blackberry Wine, recipe

Again, it's been a long time since i did a brewing blog entry. But hey it's not easy finding the time and while i appreciate the donations (i really do, and thank you muchly to those who donate) they are few and far between, so my focus needs to go on efforts towards putting bread on the table .. cos wine alone is not enough.

But now i've got time to update the blog, just before the year is out. So here's a recipe from August. Using blackberries that i lovingly tend in my garden. Making sure that each cane has fewer berries to nurture than would have happened if nature were left to her own devices. And this means the berries are bigger, sweeter and juicier. Onwards then, with the recipe and method ...

Recipe, 2 Gallons

3.6 Kg Blackberries
2 Kg Sugar
3 Litres Red Grape Juice (Asda, pure pressed)
2 Campden Tablets (crushed)
3 TSpoon Pectolase
2 TSpoon Citric Acid
2 TSpoon Yeast Nutrient (tronozymol)
Yeast (GV11).

Original Gravity 1100

Method.

You've probably followed my blog for some time so i'll do the condensed method version.
Mash your berries and tip into a fermenting bucket.
Dissolve sugar in boiled hot water (2 litres is enough) and add to fermenting bucket.
Dissolve campden tablets, pectolase and citric acid in warm water add to fermenting bucket.
Add grape juice to fermenting bucket. Rinse bottles and add rinsings.
Cover and leave overnight.

Next day make up to 2 gallons with water or sugar solution to achieve your desired original gravity if 1100 isn't strong enough (perish the thought!). Then stir sloshily (i use a whisk) and add yeast nutrient and yeast then cover. Stir sloshily daily for a few days.

After a few days decant to demi-johns for secondary fermentation under airlock. Then when fermentation has quietened down or stopped rack, leaving sediment behind, into demi-johns. Then be patient and wait. If you want you can wait for the fermentation to stop and then add campden tablets and potassium sorbate and finings. But if you want something close to chemical free then check the gravity when it's stopped fermenting (gravity doesn't change week to week). If it's in the range of 990-998 ish then it'll be done and you can probably get away without further additions.

Bottle your wine when you need the demijohns. not before. Your wine will mature better in bulk than in bottles. If you use a cork then leave the bottles upright for 24-48 hours and then lay them down. If using screw caps then standing upright is good.

Discussion.

Blackberry wine is delicious but without the addition of some grape juice it is not to everyone's tastes. Grape juice will make it into something that everyone will recognise as wine, but will be surprised by, cos it tastes just a little different.

Also, by adding grape juice, you add additional body and nutrients, which means you can up the alcohol content. so if like your red wines big and balanced, like an Aussie Shiraz (as i do), then this is the way to go. This recipe will make a wine around 14% + ABV. So when i said "perish the thought of adding more sugar" i meant it!

UPDATE and sign off on this wine

I opened the last bottle of this yesterday, March 2021. It's 6 & 1/2 years old. Wow. Time did some magic with this wine. It was already a decent wine to enjoy from about a year after pitching the yeast. However if you copied this recipe and laid some down then you're in for a treat.

First off let's say that time improving this wine is not a surprise. It's strong at 14.1%. There is also plenty to it, not only the blackberries, but the grape juice too. Time will help everything come together with seamless edges.

First impressions. There is a small amount of fine sediment in the bottle. It's been lying down, to keep the cork moist, so the sediment is where you would expect it to be rather than in the bottom of the bottle. The sediment is very stable. Even 2 days after opening it's stuck tight on the bottle and hasn't sneaked into my glass.  The cork was deeply stained about 15% the way up. 2 Days after opening the cork is still very "deformed" into the shape of the bottle neck. 

Next observations. The wine is a beautiful deep purple and clear. Amazingly there is still a very slight frizz to the wine. It is very slight and you could easily miss it. So whether you like a frizz or loath a frizz you'll only notice if you're looking for it.

It's a big, fruity, dry and rounded red. If, like me, you make 10's of bottles every year then laying some down is worth it. The addition of grape juice seems to have been vital learning. In future if all i have is blackberries i'll defo add grape juice. Not only for drinking while young (1-2 years old) but also for laying down.