I am, as always, very glad everyone enjoys the recipe. As for the sediment problem. If you employ a (relatively) cheap filter system, sediment in your bottles can be eliminated. Wait until the wine appears clear, then filter before bottling. It makes the wine sparkle!
CBell, I agree, chilled is best.
Jim, the label looks great on the bottle!
James, you are right. Bulk storage and dispensary is best for mass consumption.
JetJockey, I have used raisins (one pound) and oak (one cup of toasted French oak) and bananas (six ripe sliced bananas) in the primary in various configurations. I have tried all variations side by side after time in the bottle, but I have found little if any value to adding extra ingredents to the primary. With raisins, we are looking for the addition of body to the wine through the skins of the grapes used in the raisins. While such use of raisins may benefit wines made from straight juice, that is not what we are doing with the DB. We already have a wealth of skins in the primary with the blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. Give this, I don't think the raisins lend much extra value. It seemed so in the beginning, but after a short time in the bottle, I could not distinguish it from the original in blind tasting. Ditto with the bananas. Up front, they seemed to lend a hand, but later, all things became equal.
The oak, on the other hand, has promise. The only error I made was in placement. While application of oak in the primary did give some flavor and smoothness to the DB, I have since become a fan of Joeswine's method of post (or secondary) application of both fruit and oak. I have made several reds and whites this past spring using his recommendations with wonderful success. The raisins (or fruit) and oak are used either upon racking to seconary, or after the wine has cleared. Tomorrow, I will start a triple batch of DB (18 gallons), and apply Joe's methods---in varying degrees---to two of the batches. the first batch will be the original without variation---for comparison. Batch two will have untoasted oak (probably a lot!) added to the wine after it clears. To the third batch, I will add an extra 3lbs of blackberries/raspberries/blackberries and some toasted French oak to the wine once it's cleared. The latter two batches will sit until the taste appeals to me---likely several weeks.
Watch Danger's Lab for this uncoming trial.