Questions for Julie

[Gwand]

Hi Julie, Following your suggestions I have been preparing blackberry wine from Blackberry purée purchased through home winery. I have been bulk aging since March. Do you recommend 6 to 12 months of bulk aging? Also do you think the blackberry purée Makes wine as good as from fresh fruit? Thanks for your continued advice and help.

 

[Julie]

I age mine 9 months. flavor is very good at the 9 month mark and at teh 2 year mark the flavor seems to be starting to go. While I love the concentrate, I really think fresh fruit will always win out on making a better wine. I haven't tried this yet but I got the idea, I believe from DoctorCad, of buying one of the pints that homewinery sells along with the 1/2 gallon and use the pint for backsweetening.

Also, I age mine for abut 2 months on Hungarian Oak.

 

[FTC Wines]

I'm NOT Julie, But I make 60 + gals of Home Winery wines from concentrates a year. I usually make 5 gals from 5 pints, ( not 4 pints as instructions) then I back sweeten with a little of their Cab concentrate. We love Cab, so I use up to a pint, we depend on taste & S G, to back sweeten Blackberry, Blueberry, Sangria & of course their Cab! We have received great reviews from friends & family over these wines. Driving past Dundee Mi in 4 weeks so you know our Jeep will be loaded with their concentrates, may even try some of their whites. Roy. PS the extra pint we use in the initial must is also Cab no matter what flavor we are making!

 

[olusteebus]

I'm NOT Julie, But I make 60 + gals of Home Winery wines from concentrates a year. I usually make 5 gals from 5 pints, ( not 4 pints as instructions) then I back sweeten with a little of their Cab concentrate. We love Cab, so I use up to a pint, we depend on taste & S G, to back sweeten Blackberry, Blueberry, Sangria & of course their Cab! We have received great reviews from friends & family over these wines. Driving past Dundee Mi in 4 weeks so you know our Jeep will be loaded with their concentrates, may even try some of their whites. Roy. PS the extra pint we use in the initial must is also Cab no matter what flavor we are making!

What is your ending SG. I may have to try that myself.

As a matter of fact, If you can, I would like to have your recipe.

 

[FTC Wines]

OB, I basically posted my recipe, I use a 1/2 gal of their concentrate (4pints)'of Blackberry, Blueberry, Cab, or Sangria. I usually do 3 -5 gal batches at a time. To which I add 1 pint of Cab concentrate to each. Out of the extra 1/2 gal of Cab that gives me 1 pint left that I put in a pint jar in the frig for back sweetening. I have been trying to make ALL my wines drier this past year or so, so I back sweeten to .996-8 for the Cab & 1.002-4 for the Black & Blueberry. The Sangria is another story, any where from 1.008-1.16. Roy