Oak, tannin and what else?

atrebla,

I make a blend of FA hybrids, based on Chambourcin. In addition to oak and tannin, I add 1/2% to 1% (by weight) of fresh Blackberries. It adds a brambly note without being identifiable.

I know of a _professional_ vintner who, back when peolple were talking glowingly about Cabernet S. with "bell pepper" notes, pureed a bagful of green peppers and added it to his vats. I'm told it was less than successful. But then, so were his wines in general. ;)

HTH, Mike MTM

That is an adjective that has long mystified me: Just what do "brambles" _taste_ like? I always thought brambles were thorns. Do they, therefore, taste like _blood_?

Tom S

Tom,

At least you have the good sense to admit it! I'll bet not one "educated palate" in a dozen who use the term would know the taste of brambles if you handed 'em a glassful. For real. I've done it. Often.

Brambles are simply the cane fruits or berries, like blackberries, raspberries, Loganberries, etc. They have a collective fruitiness, but some, like blackberries, have distinctive tastes which work well in full bodied reds. Kinda reminds me of how a good Pinot Noir comes together, if you know what I mean.

HTH, Mike MTM

I probably shouldn't admit this, but I had a lot of chuckles once by distributing an anonymous dry white wine to several relatively wine-knowledgeable friends and acquaintenances, and asking them to identify the grape. Amazingly, not one of them guessed "pear"! And only one of them got noticeably angry when I revealed the truth...

Bart

You can also fool many with grapefruit wine.

I get what you mean, but aren't the brambles (strictly speaking) the thorns themselves, rather than the fruit that accompanies them?

They have a collective fruitiness, but

I've occasionally thought that a barrel aged blackberry wine would be _really_ nice - but who could afford to make one? Enough berries to fill a

228 liter barrel (plus topping) would cost a _fortune_! I could probably buy Rutherford Cabernet for less.

Tom S

---snip

Yea, and I'm waxing one of my oak barrels with saddle leather... For real!

SG Brix

My gallon of NZ grapefruit (and ginger) wine (made sweet) would be hard to mistake for anything else. Must find some small bottles to bottle it :-)

The essence of making blackberry wine is that it comes "free". In later summer I go out and head for my favourite wild blackberry patches -- and, if I have beaten my local rivals to the picking, will come home with about

10+ kg of blackberries to process! More than enough to make 23 litres of wine plus a stock of fruit to keep me in blackberry and apple pie till the next picking time. Mind you it would take a while to fill your 228 litre barrel but it would take a while to pick enough grapes wouldn't it? :-}

The real trick is to have a wife who believes that it is a waste bordering on sinfulness to let wild fruit hit the ground. She loves the wild animals but has no sympathy for them on this topic. I have not made 228 liters but I have made 75 liters in a year. (Dewberry wine) Wonderful stuff. The best of all wild, not grape, reds.

Ray

In one sense, I guess so. But to gardeners, the term is used for the whole plant, generically. I don't think there's much chance of anybody eating anything except the berries, especially the thorns. 'Tho I can see how you get the idea that brambles taste like blood. ;)

Perhaps a bit less than you'd think. My best batch used only 6 pounds of fruit and two pounds of sugar per gallon. Maybe 375 lbs fruit? I wonder what you can get Oregon blackberries for in season? It might work out to $3-$4 per bottle.

HTH, Mike MTM

Pinky,

We have huge blackberry patches in western Canada in the mountains. Unfortunately when they're ripe there are a variety of black, brown and even Grizzly bears eating them as well as they really enjoy ripe berries. Unfortunately they won't hesitate to add people to their diet so the key is to pick really fast and keep looking over your shoulder.

Cheers,

Glen Duff

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P> The essence of making blackberry wine is that it comes "free". In later

I thought, by Northern nomenclature, a brown bear was a grizzly. The worst thing I have seen eating berries here in south Texas is a terrapin. (Of course you have to watch out for the Jackalopes!)

Ray

People in Ontario (not the north ;) refer to black bears (Ursus Americanus) as brown bears sometimes, because black bears colours vary a lot. I think is because there aren't any grizzly bears in Ontario.