Hi All,

My wife and I just started making wine last June. First was a Riesling from
aWine Expert kit and we are drinking it know, I think it really came out
well. Our second endeavor is a blackberry wine which we started by picking
the fruit so it is totally our own doing. It was started in August and we
have racked it 3 times and at the last racking the SG was .990, the taste
was tart and dry. My question is, since my wife is not a big fan of
completely dry wine, we were thinking of sweetening it and therein is where
I have big concerns.

First, I thought of getting some 1 gallon jugs and dividing our 5 gallons
into them, leaving one dry and then varying the sweetness of the remaining 4
to try to determine the level of sweetness that appeals to her so this year
we can just make the entire batch to her liking. If I do that, how much
should I add, maybe in 1/4 cup increments? I don't have a clue so any help
would be appreciated.

Second, what type of sweetening agent should I use - table sugar?

Third, what would I need to add to stabilize the wine when adding the sugar?
And what quantity?

My plan is to sweeten the wine and let it set for a month or two then
bottle.

Also is the tart taste due to too high of an acid content or is it just
young and will mellow with age?

Now to the Oklahoma part of the title, are there any wine making groups
around central Oklahoma?

Thanks, I again return to lurk mode. BTW, I learn a lot from this group for
the short time I have been reading it - Thanks.

Dan

Jack Keller has a really good entry in his blog about sweetening wine. You
might check that, and scroll down to July 8th.

http://www.homebrew.com/wine_cellar/wineblog.shtml

He also wrote a really good reply to the same question that I posed on a
local wine board...

http://www.winepress.us/forums/index...ndpost&p=93452

Essentially, you'll be doing bench tests, with several glasses of wine.
Once you get to a target taste, or hydrometer reading, you can multiply the
amount of sugar syrup that you've made for the whole batch. As far as your
syrup, you make a 2:1 sugar slurry, i.e. use 2 times the amount of sugar to
water, and bring it to just under boiling. This will allow the sugar to
dissolve completely. Let it cool, then begin adding it to your wine
samples, based on the articles above.

Regards,
Van
"Danny" wrote in message
news:PuXvf.41508$Mi5.8133@dukeread07...
Hi All,

My wife and I just started making wine last June. First was a Riesling
from aWine Expert kit and we are drinking it know, I think it really came
out well. Our second endeavor is a blackberry wine which we started by
picking the fruit so it is totally our own doing. It was started in
August and we have racked it 3 times and at the last racking the SG was
.990, the taste was tart and dry. My question is, since my wife is not a
big fan of completely dry wine, we were thinking of sweetening it and
therein is where I have big concerns.

First, I thought of getting some 1 gallon jugs and dividing our 5 gallons
into them, leaving one dry and then varying the sweetness of the remaining
4 to try to determine the level of sweetness that appeals to her so this
year we can just make the entire batch to her liking. If I do that, how
much should I add, maybe in 1/4 cup increments? I don't have a clue so any
help would be appreciated.

Second, what type of sweetening agent should I use - table sugar?

Third, what would I need to add to stabilize the wine when adding the
sugar? And what quantity?

My plan is to sweeten the wine and let it set for a month or two then
bottle.

Also is the tart taste due to too high of an acid content or is it just
young and will mellow with age?

Now to the Oklahoma part of the title, are there any wine making groups
around central Oklahoma?

Thanks, I again return to lurk mode. BTW, I learn a lot from this group
for the short time I have been reading it - Thanks.

Dan

I knwo there's an ale group here in OK/OKC, but I don't know about wine.
The person to ask would be Chuck at the Brew Shop. Either hit his site and
get phone number http://www.thebrewshopokc.com or come by the shop. I
frequent the shop in OKC, but he has one in Norman too. I think he's
normally only at the one in OKC though. At least, he's always been there
when I've gone by the shop for something.

Joel

"Danny" wrote in message
news:PuXvf.41508$Mi5.8133@dukeread07...
Hi All,

My wife and I just started making wine last June. First was a Riesling
from aWine Expert kit and we are drinking it know, I think it really came
out well. Our second endeavor is a blackberry wine which we started by
picking the fruit so it is totally our own doing. It was started in
August and we have racked it 3 times and at the last racking the SG was
.990, the taste was tart and dry. My question is, since my wife is not a
big fan of completely dry wine, we were thinking of sweetening it and
therein is where I have big concerns.

First, I thought of getting some 1 gallon jugs and dividing our 5 gallons
into them, leaving one dry and then varying the sweetness of the remaining
4 to try to determine the level of sweetness that appeals to her so this
year we can just make the entire batch to her liking. If I do that, how
much should I add, maybe in 1/4 cup increments? I don't have a clue so any
help would be appreciated.

Second, what type of sweetening agent should I use - table sugar?

Third, what would I need to add to stabilize the wine when adding the
sugar? And what quantity?

My plan is to sweeten the wine and let it set for a month or two then
bottle.

Also is the tart taste due to too high of an acid content or is it just
young and will mellow with age?

Now to the Oklahoma part of the title, are there any wine making groups
around central Oklahoma?

Thanks, I again return to lurk mode. BTW, I learn a lot from this group
for the short time I have been reading it - Thanks.

Dan

Danny wrote "Our second endeavor is a blackberry wine which we started by
picking
the fruit so it is totally our own doing. It was started in August and we
have racked it 3 times and at the last racking the SG was .990, the taste
was tart and dry. My question is, since my wife is not a big fan of
completely dry wine..."

Dan - The tart taste is due to high acid. The easiest thing for you to do
is to bottle the wine dry after you are sure no more sediment will settle
out. No hurry to bottle...give it some time. Be sure to add a proper
amount of sulfite in the form of potassium metabisulfite or Campden tablets
before you bottle. Then, keep some sugar syrup on hand and sweeten the wine
before you have a glass. Van's suggested 2 parts sugar/1 part water will
keep for ever in the frig. The high concentratin of sugar inhibits
microbial growth. A little sugar syrup will offset the tart taste. Also,
it will bring out the fruit taste.

If you must sweeten the wine before bottling you will have to add about 0.8
grams/gallon potassium sorbate (about 200 ppm). This will prevent any
remining yeast from reproducing. It doesn't kill yeast. You will also have
to add adequate sulfite, depending on the wine's pH. The sorbate will add a
taste to the wine that some people don't care for but it seems to fade with
time.

Bill Frazier
Olathe, Kansas USA

It is a great idea to craft wines to the taste of your loved one. But you
do not need to craft it all one way. You might find that you like it dryer
so you can, as you suggest, divide it up and sweeten in different ways. But
I would not divide it up into so many batches. Just 2, one your way and one
her way. Test one batch against your own taste and let her test the other.

You seem to have a good feel for what you are doing as it is a good idea to
further bulk age after you adjust the sugar. I find that if I sweeten a
wine to taste and then age it a while it will taste less sweet. So I
suggest that you sweeten it to taste, put it back for 2 months as you
suggest, and then taste test it again and adjust if necessary before
bottling.

Yes the tart taste is acid and is a good indicator that the wine will
support sweetening. Sweeter wine requires more acid. It is a balance
thing.

Do use sorbate and sulphite to stabilize the wine before sweetening.

By the way I make dewberry wine, a close relative to blackberry, and it is
one of my favorites. It always ferments very dry. Down around 0.990 or
sometimes lower.

Ray

"Danny" wrote in message
news:PuXvf.41508$Mi5.8133@dukeread07...
Hi All,

My wife and I just started making wine last June. First was a Riesling
from aWine Expert kit and we are drinking it know, I think it really came
out well. Our second endeavor is a blackberry wine which we started by
picking the fruit so it is totally our own doing. It was started in
August and we have racked it 3 times and at the last racking the SG was
.990, the taste was tart and dry. My question is, since my wife is not a
big fan of completely dry wine, we were thinking of sweetening it and
therein is where I have big concerns.

First, I thought of getting some 1 gallon jugs and dividing our 5 gallons
into them, leaving one dry and then varying the sweetness of the remaining
4 to try to determine the level of sweetness that appeals to her so this
year we can just make the entire batch to her liking. If I do that, how
much should I add, maybe in 1/4 cup increments? I don't have a clue so any
help would be appreciated.

Second, what type of sweetening agent should I use - table sugar?

Third, what would I need to add to stabilize the wine when adding the
sugar? And what quantity?

My plan is to sweeten the wine and let it set for a month or two then
bottle.

Also is the tart taste due to too high of an acid content or is it just
young and will mellow with age?

Now to the Oklahoma part of the title, are there any wine making groups
around central Oklahoma?

Thanks, I again return to lurk mode. BTW, I learn a lot from this group
for the short time I have been reading it - Thanks.

Dan