>>17303878That pic was one the first harvests, season continues for 2 months. Darkest berries are best, but for wine, a few unripe ones here and there in between doesn't matter much, as they add acid and tannin to the wine, two things you're supposed to add anyway.
>>17303894blackberry concentrate
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First I make a bunch of blackberry concentrate. First you wash the berries thoroughly with ice water.
Next boil the berries in a minimum of water until they're soft. When everything is cooled down to room temperature, add some pectinase enzyme (this breaks down cell walls) to the mix and let stand for 24 hours. Sieve, boil and pour into clean, pre-heated glass bottles, cap and on cooling they pull a vacuum. Like this the blackberry concentrate can be stored indefinitely.
blackberry wine
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for 6 liter
2 kg freshly picked blackberries (washed with ice water)
1.5 liter blackberry concentrate as per above recipe
1.5 kg sugar
1/4 tsp tannin
1 tsp citric acid
1/2 tsp pectinase
1/2 tsp yeast nutrient (ammonium phosphate)
1 packet red wine yeast
Put blackberries and sugar in a pot with 1 liter water, bring to boil until berries are softened enough. Let cool to room temp and place everything in the dame-jeanne (= suitably sized glass carboy with water lock).
Add other ingredients except yeast nutrient and yeast. Let the pectinase do its work for 48 hours, then finally add the yeast nutrient and yeast.
Heavy fermentation during the first week, but let stand for 4-5 months. Then put on bottle (best to add a pinch of bisulfite to stop any fermentation at this point), let stand at least another 6 months.
