Blackberry wine back-sweetening with juice

[Earldw]

Howdy folks,
I started 3 gallons of all-juice blackberry wine last summer, and it is DRY. I tested a small sample with table sugar, and while it brings out all of the fruit flavor it pretty much tastes like wine with sugar in it.

I should have a spring harvest of blackberries sometime late mid-April to early May. Would you folks recommend back-sweetening with natural juice over table sugar?

Thanks

 

[winemaker81]

I'd go with sugar. As is common with wine, time makes a difference. Backsweeten then let the wine meld for a few months. It tastes different.

Juice will dilute the wine, and the more you need to backsweeten, the more the wine is diluted.

Take a bottle's worth and backsweeten with sugar. Cork it and leave it for 3 months. Then taste it -- this will tell you what to do.

 

[BigDaveK]

I like the idea of back sweetening with juice but there's way too much water and too little sugar. I agree with @winemaker81, sugar, as in simple syrup. FWIW, I've been sweetening small amounts of excess wine lately both with sugar and simple syrup and to my mouth there's a difference, and syrup is better. So if you used straight table sugar I can understand your feeling. Maybe table sugar needs time to incorporate completely.

Lucky you with the all-juice blackberry! I was hoping to do that but my berries were WAY too acidic. And this year I'm toying with the idea of making blackberry jelly (but without the pectin) to use for back sweetening.

 

[Rocky]

Howdy folks,
I started 3 gallons of all-juice blackberry wine last summer, and it is DRY. I tested a small sample with table sugar, and while it brings out all of the fruit flavor it pretty much tastes like wine with sugar in it.

I should have a spring harvest of blackberries sometime late mid-April to early May. Would you folks recommend back-sweetening with natural juice over table sugar?

Thanks

Just a suggestion, but I think I would go with something like this after hitting the wine with Potassium Sorbate. I would bench test for the proper amount to add, Edison style (trial and error).

https://www.homebrewohio.com/vintners-best-fruit-wine-base-blackberry/

 

[winechef]

Why not mascerate your Blackberries and pour the sugary syrup with the BlackBerry flavor. won't dilute anymore than simple syrup and give you flavor. personally I try to start with a high abv 15 percent and then back sweeten with juice gettiny around 13 abv final product

 

[Jovimaple]

My favorite commercial winemaker told me he reserves about 10% percent of the concentrate to use for backsweetening. This is for a black raspberry wine. (I think it's similar for all of his fruit wines but it was the black raspberry we were discussing at the moment.)

That being said, I usually backsweeten with sugar stirred in. I used simple syrup at first but have been happy with plain sugar. With the exception of Skeeter Pee or Dragonblood, I generally backsweeten, then age in bulk for a couple more months, before bottling. (SP and DB are quick drinkers so I just wait a few days until they clear again after I stir in the sugar.)

 

[David Violante]

You could also try some honey with black berry… merely an alternative… I would probably use sugar as well. Maybe a combination.

 

[Earldw]

Why not mascerate your Blackberries and pour the sugary syrup with the BlackBerry flavor. won't dilute anymore than simple syrup and give you flavor. personally I try to start with a high abv 15 percent and then back sweeten with juice gettiny around 13 abv final product

That is an interesting idea. BigDave’s thoughts on Jelly is similar, just one would be cooked and the other not.

 

[Earldw]

Thanks for everyone’s input. I believe I will wait until the spring harvest is ripe here in a month or so and then try several of the options. It is a terrible burden to drink these different concoctions, but it just needs to be done!