Blackberry Merlot

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RedNeckWino

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I am doing 6 gallons of Blackberry Merlot. 3 gallons I added a touch of brandy and 2 oz of french oak medium, the other 3 gallons only got the oak. What to do for the next few weeks......All but one 5 gallon carboy is full, but soon to have 3x 1 gallon jugs cleaned out. The Apple Pie is crystal clear and ready for the holidays! Thinking maybe a fruit from concentrate... or I can get 25# pails of frozen cherries from a local processor for $28.00 per pail. The cherries can be sugared or unsweetened..... Red tart pitted.
 
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I am doing 6 gallons of Blackberry Merlot. 3 gallons I added a touch of brandy and 2 oz of french oak medium, the other 3 gallons only got the oak. What to do for the next few weeks......All but one 5 gallon carboy is full, but soon to have 3x 1 gallon jugs cleaned out. The Apple Pie is crystal clear and ready for the holidays! Thinking maybe a fruit from concentrate... or I can get 25# pails of frozen cherries from a local processor for $28.00 per pail. The cherries can be sugared or unsweetened..... Red tart pitted.

Tart cherries make an excellent wine! I picked 50#+ this past year, so I say 25# for $28 is a GREAT deal.

If that was available here, I would ALWAYS have a batch of cherry bubbling away.
 
If you do the bucket of cherries thing, seperate most of the liquid out of the bucket and freeze it. ferment the cherries and use the liquid as a flavor pac. You will have to sweeten it too, but really gives a lot of flavor. You will probably want to simmer the juice down some so you do not dilute your wine too much. Arne.
 
Got the cherries, gonna squeeze 50+ pounds into a 6 gallon batch. The skeeter pee will have to get divided into other jugs. Been looking for a reason to use a press I bought on ebay. Its only a 4 quart, heavy cast iron frame with oak bucket. I only paid $20.00. Was a yard ornament. All parts work great, but have to take it to get sand blasted as the old guy painted it MAUVE, with an unknown kind of paint that is flaking bad. So another $15-20 bucks into it makes it still darn cheap.
 
If you are going to use 8 plus pounds per gallon, you probably won't need the extra juice afterwards. Should get plenty of flavor from the 8 pounds. Just my opinion. Take care and good luck. Arne.
 

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