Elderberry/Blueberry blend

[Greydog]

I currently have 6 gallons of Elderberry clearing which was fermented dry from an OG of 1.080. It was made using a half gallon plus one pint of concentrate from Home Winery Supply. The wine has good flavor but seems to lack body (thin). I also Have 9 gallons of blueberry in 3 and 6 gallon secondarys which I thought I started at an OG of 1.110 but I fear the sugar was not completely in solution and it is already very "hot". It is down to about 1.000 now and pretty tasty.

I am contemplating blending 3 gallons of blueberry with 6 gallons of Elderberry once I get them both cleared to cut the ABV in the blueberry a little and possibly add some body to the elderberry. The other 6 gallons of blueberry is so hot I will probably back sweeten pretty heavily and make a desert style from it.

Any opinions on how a blend such as this would turn out?

 

[Julie]

Sounds like a good plan, I haven't made that blend but others have said that an elderberry/blueberry blend is very tasty. I would test in a glass first to make sure you get the portions that you like.

 

[Bergmann]

I have never done that blend, I find both verities to be very flavorful, as well as delightful stand alone wines. However If I found myself in your situation with one of them high ABV and one light in body I would do as you plan. It would be a delightful afternoon bench testing the blends to achieve desired results.

 

[Julie]

I keep thinking about the elderberry being on the thin side. I never bought an elderberry from them but I do buy the blackberry and black raspberry and I don't have an issue with the wine being thin, with that said, I always add a finishing tannin. Did you by chance add any tannin to the elderberry?

 

[Greydog]

No. I have grape tannin on hand however I neglected to add it to both blueberry and elderberry. I only added acid blend, nutrient and sugar. I had never used elderberries before but I have read that the they perform very similar to grapes when making wine. The wine has totally cleared and is a deep blue/purple color.....so deep in fact that when I hold a flashlight to the back of the carboy I cannot see the light from the other side. It looks like a big full bodied Italian like Nebbiolo. Maybe if I back sweeten a little it will bring the fruit more forward and improve. Its still young so hard to tell.

 

[Bergmann]

I make a lot of elderberry. I must admit All from fresh frozen fruit. But I have Never found elderberry to be light or lacking body. I have also found other concentrates seem to do well and cannot imagine elderberry being any different. Sweetening may very well bring the fruit forward. But I would give at some time after doing so before making a final decision. It is not too late to add a elderberry F-pack to the wine to add flavor and body

 

[Greydog]

I make a lot of elderberry. I must admit All from fresh frozen fruit. But I have Never found elderberry to be light or lacking body. I have also found other concentrates seem to do well and cannot imagine elderberry being any different. Sweetening may very well bring the fruit forward. But I would give at some time after doing so before making a final decision. It is not too late to add a elderberry F-pack to the wine to add flavor and body

The concentrate is supposed to make 5 gallons of wine using 1/2 gallon of concentrate. I used 1/2 gallon + 1 pint for six gallons of the elderberry and 1 gallon of concentrate for 9 gallons of the blueberry. I have an extra pint of blueberry which I intend to use as an F-Pac in 6 gallons of that before clearing.

As you said, there's plenty of time so I'll just wait and see if it improves before attempting to blend it. My girlfriend likes it as is but she prefers a blush wine anyway.

 

[Julie]

I would add a 1/4 tsp of tannin, leave it sit for a while then taste. The tannin should improve the mouthfeel.

 

[Greydog]

I would add a 1/4 tsp of tannin, leave it sit for a while then taste. The tannin should improve the mouthfeel.

I have never added tannin "after the fact" so to speak. I'll do it after I rack it off the finings as I don't want to cloud it up again.

Just a few minutes ago I used a turkey baster to remove and blend 50/50 blueberry and elderberry (maybe 6 ounces total) in a wine glass. Even though the blueberry is still in secondary and full of co2 and yeast it was surprisingly good!!

Having a glass of Blueberry/Pomegranate I made last year from Old Orchard frozen concentrate. I swear it's as good as any white Zin I ever tasted!!

 

[Julie]

I have never added tannin "after the fact" so to speak. I'll do it after I rack it off the finings as I don't want to cloud it up again.

Just a few minutes ago I used a turkey baster to remove and blend 50/50 blueberry and elderberry (maybe 6 ounces total) in a wine glass. Even though the blueberry is still in secondary and full of co2 and yeast it was surprisingly good!!

Having a glass of Blueberry/Pomegranate I made last year from Old Orchard frozen concentrate. I swear it's as good as any white Zin I ever tasted!!

lol, last night I was drinking a blue/pom I made two years ago from Ole Orchard. It is pretty tasty!

Bout a year and a half ago I started adding tannins to my wine and I noticed a big improvement to my wines. A lot of people will tell you that Elderberry is full of tannins and you don't need to add but I don't leave my must on the skins more than three days so I feel that the addition to tannins is a good thing and my elderberry is much better since I started that.

 

[Greydog]

I think this concentrate is already a grape/elderberry blend....not sure but I believe I read that on their site. That's why I added no tannin. I'll add the tannin but now I'm pretty sure it's gonna be ok regardless if I do the blend. Now thinking I'll do a 50/50 with 6 gallons of each and do a port/dessert style with the remaining 3 gallons of "hot" blueberry.

It's all still too young to really know what it will be in 6-8 months.
Tried to edit that freakin smiley out but it won't go away!!!

 

[sour_grapes]

Looking only at the avatars, it is kinda funny to see two dogs "having a conversation." Mind if a different canid joins in?

 

[Julie]

Looking only at the avatars, it is kinda funny to see two dogs "having a conversation." Mind if a different canid joins in?

Lol, I didn't notice that!

 

[Greydog]

Looking only at the avatars, it is kinda funny to see two dogs "having a conversation." Mind if a different canid joins in?

LOL!! Feel free Paul. That's Lindsay, my 9 month old Bordeaux Mastiff. Her predecessor Beavis, a Bullmastiff, passed away last June at 11 years old. My little basement winery is named for them and beav is featured on my labels.

 

[Greydog]

Well, all the wine has cleared sufficiently to experiment. I did a half glass of the 50/50 mix just looking for a place to start. That is where I'm going to stop. All I can say is WOW!! This is gonna be good!! It is remarkably similar to a Sangiovese or Super Tuscan. The blend is not hot like the blueberry was by itself and it has plenty of body unlike the elderberry alone.

The blend will give me 12 gallons of which I will back sweeten 6 gallons to just "off dry". The other 6 gallons will simply be left to age gracefully as is because I don't want to lose that big bold Italian taste.

I wish now I had taken some notes so the mistakes I made with both these wines were recorded. I would like to do it again!!

 

[Boyd]

I currently have 6 gallons of Elderberry clearing which was fermented dry from an OG of 1.080. It was made using a half gallon plus one pint of concentrate from Home Winery Supply. The wine has good flavor but seems to lack body (thin). I also Have 9 gallons of blueberry in 3 and 6 gallon secondarys which I thought I started at an OG of 1.110 but I fear the sugar was not completely in solution and it is already very "hot". It is down to about 1.000 now and pretty tasty.

I am contemplating blending 3 gallons of blueberry with 6 gallons of Elderberry once I get them both cleared to cut the ABV in the blueberry a little and possibly add some body to the elderberry. The other 6 gallons of blueberry is so hot I will probably back sweeten pretty heavily and make a desert style from it.

Any opinions on how a blend such as this would turn out?

I have done elderberry/wild grape and elderberry/black cherry, both fermented together. People that drank them thought they were good.

I have a wild grape/elderberry aging now.

 

[Greydog]

It is amazing how much a wine's profile can change over just a few days. This blend no longer even comes close to the Sangiovese/Super Tuscan taste it had before. It is now a very fruity tasting wine with the blueberry flavor right up front and very noticeable hints of elderberry follow.

These Home Winery concentrates make some very nice wine. I will certainly use them again.