Blackberry Wine the Start of Something Great

I just made it in time to pick the last of the blackberries at Bissett Farms, for my blackberry wine.

Bissett Berry Farms is located in Ladner and have a wonderful selection of berrys which are grown organically.  As you can see by the pictures the blackberries are Huge.  I tried to scout out wild blackberry bushes around train tracks and empty lots but these berries just weren't ripe enough or someone had already picked the good ones.  So I went to Bissett Farms to pick my berries. After about and hour or so I had some 23 pounds of blackberries, which is just enough to make my blackberry wine.

I couldn't wait once I got home to start crushing these berries. I used a potato masher and my bare hands. There is something just so right about working your hands through the berries, knowing you're in the process of creating a wonderful wine.

Once I crushed the berries I followed the RJ Spagnol's instruction sheet. I don't follow the instruction sheet to the letter but rather use it as a guideline. As you can see the photographs show the berries on the vine; in the bucket and then in the primary fermenter.

My next few posts will cover the how I make the blackberry wine.  As is my tradition I will also make a blackberry port.

  

The Great Thing About Wine Kits

The great thing about making wine from wine kits is the selection you have. Those winemakers who buy grapes or grape juice to make their wine from scratch are limited to their local region.

How can a Vancouver home winemaker buy fresh wine grapes from Australia, have them shipped here and still be good for wine making? It's pretty much an impossibility.

Making wine from kits allows you to chose wines from Italy, Germany, USA, Canada, Australia and many other regions. The juice in these kits is selected, tested, packaged and shipped out in short order. To keep the juice from spoilage the wine kit makers use sterile processing equipment and some sulphite.

The fact is making wine from a wine kit gives you the opportunity to make about 30 bottles of wine from a specific region, whereas you'd only be able to buy 2 - 4 bottles in a wine store for the same price.

We wine kit makers sure have an ashamedly great selection of wine kits to chose from. Every time you make a kit you can chose a different country and style of wine. So go ahead enjoy making your wine.