using frozen fruits

[tonyhibbett]

The colour of blackberry rapidly fades when exposed to light. If storing in bulk, cover container with black bin liner and use dark bottles, avoiding direct sunlight.
If my similar experiment with raspberries and dried elderberries is anything to go by, the flavour changes significantly for the better in just a couple of weeks. It doesn't resemble any red wine I've ever tasted, but it's very nice. Having said that, I recently tasted a British red, for which the same could be said. My partner commented, 'It tastes like the stuff you make!'

 

[Leo]

Liquids expand when they freeze, so the cell walls and soft tissues get ruptured.

Hate to be pedantic (lies, i love it), but most liquids don't. In fact it is only water that does this as far as i know.

 

[tonyhibbett]

I wasn't aware of that. Mind you, fresh fruit is mostly water anyway.

 

[pondlife]

Well, I filtered and bottled my Young's Merlot with added frozen blackberries a couple of days ago. With a SG of 1090 (due to the addition of an extra 1kg white sugar) and a FG of 990 giving 13.3% ABV, the wine was ruby red and crystal clear with a lovely, fruity nose.

As luck would have it, I filled 29 bottles and had exactly 1 large glassful left over! Well, I had to try it, didn't I? I've never made this wine before, far less tried frozen fruits to add flavour, but it was very pleasant indeed, even at this early stage. I'm not sure that anyone would call it "Merlot" exactly, but I've tasted worse out of supermarkets and restaurants.

THere was no overpowering taste or aroma of the frozen fruit, but there was a hint of the depth of taste that maturation will hopefully bring. The wine will lie in my cool room (that's cool for cold, not trendy!) for a minimum of 2 months before I crack a bottle.

I added the frozen blackberries at Day 7 of the fermentation and removed them before adding the stabiliser, juice pack and finings on Day 15.

One definite and unexpected bonus of using frozen fruit is that I whizzed the wine-soaked blackberries in a food processor and then pressed the puree through a sieve. I've already used some of the puree to deepen the flavour of an onion gravy for venison sausages and it was delicious! The rest will be going in to a beef bourguignon I'm making for tonight's dinner.