Droopy wrote:
> I made a blueberry port earlier this year. My suggestions would be to
> first use twice as much fruit per gallon as you would for a normal
> fruit wine (Jack keller reccomends 6 lbs per gallon instead of 10). Be
> carefull though. In my recipie I used fresh fruit for both the
> blueberry and elderberry and it became hard to get enough fruit per
> gallon to make the wine (when considering the additions of sugar
> needed)

That's interesting. I was looking at a recipe on there for 5 gallons
and doubled that. On the one hand, I'm not looking forward to getting
50 pounds of berries. OTOH it would be a good time to try second runnings.

There's a farm an hour and a half away with blackberries. They don't
think they'll freely have that capacity for sale this weekend, but they
should be ready next weekend.

> Use brandy. Do not use unflavored spirit, like everclear. It boosts
> the alcohol enough, but it tends to make the wine taste like a mixed
> drink instead of a port. Brandy has the je ne se quois needed to make
> it taste right. Use a pearsons square to determine how much to add.

OK I had forgotten about brandy, and others are mentioning it. I wasn't
fixated on sherry or anything.

> You may think that you do not want the tannin in there. But with all
> that alcohol and sugar, you will be glad if you let some the the tannin
> get extracted. Otherwise you may find the wine tastinig a bit insipid.

I just don't want to wait too long for this to be ready. That as, I'd
like something passable 2 months after bottle, and perhaps have
something for the holidays.