Bottling of last summers Wine

[Scooter68]

Well I didn't make lot of wine this past year but I had 6 different batches to bottle up. Now the wine rack is properly restocked, for now.
Bottled this week were
1) Blueberry ABV 14.1 SG at bottling 1.014
2) Blueberry/White Grape (First true blend of varieties for me -good results. ABV 13.6, SG at Bottling 1.012
3) Black Currant - Turned out Low ABV 11.2 and very sweet SG at bottling 1.024. Not my best batch of this, stalled ferment that I couldn't restart
4) Elderberry - First time (from 100% Elderberry wine base) ABV 13.1 SG at bottling 1.018 Good but not sure I'll do it again.
5) Pineapple Mango - Fantastic - VERY stout flavor and ABV of only 12.65% NOT a Wine Cooler by any means. This will have to be repeated.
6) Triple Berry - 1 gallon batch comprised of Red Raspberry (1.5lbs) Black Raspberry (3 lbs) and BlackBerry (3.5lbs) 8 pounds This one will blow your taste buds away. Bottled after back-sweetening to 1.007

By far the two standouts this year are the Pineapple-Mango and the Triple Berry. The triple berry has legs, LONG legs. Short video didn't do it justice and the forum doesn't support mp4.

Here's how the wine rack looks today. Except for the Peach wine front and center, all the carboys are 2020 batches including 2 brand new Apple Cider 3 gallon batches on the right.
t

 

[hounddawg]

Well I didn't make lot of wine this past year but I had 6 different batches to bottle up. Now the wine rack is properly restocked, for now.
Bottled this week were
1) Blueberry ABV 14.1 SG at bottling 1.014
2) Blueberry/White Grape (First true blend of varieties for me -good results. ABV 13.6, SG at Bottling 1.012
3) Black Currant - Turned out Low ABV 11.2 and very sweet SG at bottling 1.024. Not my best batch of this, stalled ferment that I couldn't restart
4) Elderberry - First time (from 100% Elderberry wine base) ABV 13.1 SG at bottling 1.018 Good but not sure I'll do it again.
5) Pineapple Mango - Fantastic - VERY stout flavor and ABV of only 12.65% NOT a Wine Cooler by any means. This will have to be repeated.
6) Triple Berry - 1 gallon batch comprised of Red Raspberry (1.5lbs) Black Raspberry (3 lbs) and BlackBerry (3.5lbs) 8 pounds This one will blow your taste buds away. Bottled after back-sweetening to 1.007

By far the two standouts this year are the Pineapple-Mango and the Triple Berry. The triple berry has legs, LONG legs. Short video didn't do it justice and the forum doesn't support mp4.

Here's how the wine rack looks today. Except for the Peach wine front and center, all the carboys are 2020 batches including 2 brand new Apple Cider 3 gallon batches on the right.
t
View attachment 65498

this photo looks cropped and faked, now in the interest of protecting your replication, i feel you should send all of it to ne to verify that you are a good and solid person, now i am willing to do this for you my friend, it will be a hardship on me, but i feel you are worth my sacrifice,, like NIXON said , cough, mumble, TRUST ME MY FELLOW AMERICANS our real friend, snicker, smirk,,,
Dawg

 

[hounddawg]

 

[Yooper🍷]

Well I didn't make lot of wine this past year but I had 6 different batches to bottle up. Now the wine rack is properly restocked, for now.
Bottled this week were
1) Blueberry ABV 14.1 SG at bottling 1.014
2) Blueberry/White Grape (First true blend of varieties for me -good results. ABV 13.6, SG at Bottling 1.012
3) Black Currant - Turned out Low ABV 11.2 and very sweet SG at bottling 1.024. Not my best batch of this, stalled ferment that I couldn't restart
4) Elderberry - First time (from 100% Elderberry wine base) ABV 13.1 SG at bottling 1.018 Good but not sure I'll do it again.
5) Pineapple Mango - Fantastic - VERY stout flavor and ABV of only 12.65% NOT a Wine Cooler by any means. This will have to be repeated.
6) Triple Berry - 1 gallon batch comprised of Red Raspberry (1.5lbs) Black Raspberry (3 lbs) and BlackBerry (3.5lbs) 8 pounds This one will blow your taste buds away. Bottled after back-sweetening to 1.007

By far the two standouts this year are the Pineapple-Mango and the Triple Berry. The triple berry has legs, LONG legs. Short video didn't do it justice and the forum doesn't support mp4.

Here's how the wine rack looks today. Except for the Peach wine front and center, all the carboys are 2020 batches including 2 brand new Apple Cider 3 gallon batches on the right.
t View attachment 65498

What was wrong with the Elderberry that you didn’t like. I’m ready to start a 3 gal batch.

 

[stickman]

It looks like you're using some of those glass stoppers on a raspberry wine. Just curious how those are holding up; the color looks good in the photo.

 

[Scooter68]

The glass stoppers were on the bottles when I got them from the recycling center. The key is that the have to fit just right of the seal is either too loose (not really sealed) or too tight and when you remove it you can get a wine shower when the stopper suddenly comes out. Good product but not if you are trying to work with randomly types and sizes of bottles from a recycling center. For me it won't work in the long run. If a person is buying bottles then you could probably find the right fit and have no issues at all. This is in our basement so very little natural light, colors are protected that way.
Glass stoppers for a commercial winery would be great. A home-winemaker could make use of them IF all their bottles are exactly the same size opening.

Yooper - Not that I don't like the Elderberry but remember it's only a year old. Maybe in another year?? I'm not a red wine fan so it's a bit too much like a red wine. I may like more later on and don't forget those two, Pineapple-mango, and Triple berry were so impressive.... Wait until you've aged that elderberry at least a year. Most of my wines are bottled just slightly sweet or Off Dry depending on how yo define the two. SG between 1.005 - 1.014 unless they are meant to be a dessert wine. The Black Currant was a bust this time around because I could not get the fermentation to finish and it stopped at an SG of 1.034 and after adding some everclear (No significant effect on taste thankfully) I got the ABV up almost 11.5% and ended up bottling at 1.024. Too sweet for that low an ABV. IF the ABV had been 14.5% or higher that sweetness would work much better.

 

[Yooper🍷]

The glass stoppers were on the bottles when I got them from the recycling center. The key is that the have to fit just right of the seal is either too loose (not really sealed) or too tight and when you remove it you can get a wine shower when the stopper suddenly comes out. Good product but not if you are trying to work with randomly types and sizes of bottles from a recycling center. For me it won't work in the long run. If a person is buying bottles then you could probably find the right fit and have no issues at all. This is in our basement so very little natural light, colors are protected that way.
Glass stoppers for a commercial winery would be great. A home-winemaker could make use of them IF all their bottles are exactly the same size opening.

Yooper - Not that I don't like the Elderberry but remember it's only a year old. Maybe in another year?? I'm not a red wine fan so it's a bit too much like a red wine. I may like more later on and don't forget those two, Pineapple-mango, and Triple berry were so impressive.... Wait until you've aged that elderberry at least a year. Most of my wines are bottled just slightly sweet or Off Dry depending on how yo define the two. SG between 1.005 - 1.014 unless they are meant to be a dessert wine. The Black Currant was a bust this time around because I could not get the fermentation to finish and it stopped at an SG of 1.034 and after adding some everclear (No significant effect on taste thankfully) I got the ABV up almost 11.5% and ended up bottling at 1.024. Too sweet for that low an ABV. IF the ABV had been 14.5% or higher that sweetness would work much better.

Did you do the elderberry with DDB recipe or a wine recipe? Just curious

 

[Scooter68]

Followed the 3 gallon recipe on the back of the Vintner's Harvest can. They provide recipes for their wine bases and I pretty much use that as a reference but set my own parameters on SG, Acid levels. About to start Blackberry recipe with a can of their wine base but I may add a few pounds of our own wild blackberries to get that "Wild" berry flavor and accents.

 

[hounddawg]

Followed the 3 gallon recipe on the back of the Vintner's Harvest can. They provide recipes for their wine bases and I pretty much use that as a reference but set my own parameters on SG, Acid levels. About to start Blackberry recipe with a can of their wine base but I may add a few pounds of our own wild blackberries to get that "Wild" berry flavor and accents.

I've tried vintners harvest, to be ok at 3 gal most, have you ever tried www,homewinery.com, a much fuller robust flavor to me, each homewinery concentrate is cheaper and good for 4 gallons each, and instead of ordering online you can call to get their 1/2 gal plus 2 pints for 6 gallon, i just when i use them i buy 3 half gallon concentrates use 12 gallon water then add the 3 half's of concentrates, given me 13.5 gallons so at end i'll have 12 gallon finished wine,
with vintners harvest you'll need them wild blackberries,
Dawg

 

[Scooter68]

Got the one can of VH Blackberry but I will look them up next go round. I tend to start batches in the summer and bottle the next summer. Occasionally one or two during the winter if I get bored.

 

[hounddawg]

Got the one can of VH Blackberry but I will look them up next go round. I tend to start batches in the summer and bottle the next summer. Occasionally one or two during the winter if I get bored.

the best part is the reduction , like with cooking, the vintners harvest i tried was in a number 10 can, or a gallon can, the www.homewinery.com is 1/2 gallon and way more robust then the concentrates in cans, blew my mind, @dralarms , turned me on to this a few years ago, when i have a dry year or fruits i don't have,, then this is my go to,
now on the site they only sell half gallons but i call them and buy a couple extra pints, that makes 6 gal plus topping off extra. till i got sure they were better, then i went to buying 3 concentrates, i use 12 gallon water plus the 1.5 gal of concentrate, giving me 13.5 gallon which finishes out to 12 gal robust wine, the man told me they have been doing that since 1955, some told me walkers was good but way to expensive for me,, they had always sold 53 types but this year the now sell 55 types, all kinds of fruits, berries, and grapes, anyway, i hope this helps,
Skoal
Dawg