On Dec 18, 4:29 am, wrote:
> My story is much the same as yours. I've been trying to figure out how
> to make "big" red wines at home like the commercial wines I usually
> buy. Here in the States wine grape concentrates are readily available,
> as are table grapes, and other fruit juice concentrates. My first few
> batches made entirely from grape juice concentrate were ok, but
> completely unimpressive. They reminded me of those three or four
> dollar wines one can find at the grocery store.
>
> I've experimented with Raisins as both an additive and a wine base;
> the results didn't merit their continued use. I've also been
> experimenting with a variety of berry blends in both country wines and
> melomels. It's too early for me to comment on the results, but
> blueberries and blackberries should be excellent ingredients for the
> type of wine you are after.
>
> I've read that an old (and illegal) trick in Burgundy is to add some
> Elderberries to the grapes when making Pinot Noir. This led me to
> experiment with Elderberries as a wine base. I recently finished a
> batch that was made from: 1/3 Elderberry wine from concentrate, 1/3
> Cabernet Sauvignon from concentrate, 1/6 from Black Seedless table
> grapes, and 1/6 from mixed Vinifera from concentrate. At bottling,
> this wine was showing a lot of promise; much "bigger" than my earlier
> attempts. I'm looking forward to sampling it in a year. I already
> have a second similar batch bulk aging.
>
> My best advice is for you to experiment with the ingredients you have.
> In time you will likely develop a recipe that will suit your tastes.
>
> Regards,
>
> Greg G.

Thanks Greg, yes I will continue to do so. Dried elderberries are so
ridiculously cheap that I can make a couple of dozen gallons of that a
year if I like it enough. I have a frozen blueberry wine on the go
that tastes pretty awesome and of course the blackberry wine is
gorgeous. Thanks for your input. I may be onto a winner with
elderberries, fresh blackberries - free except for cuts to my hands -
all summer and autumn and frozen blueberries with a touch of raisin to
add a vinosity to the batch. I might spend the next few years playing
with that, current (sic) results permitting.

Cheers again for the reply.

Jim