Island Mist Blackberry Wine Kit

WINE KIT DETAILS

As a home winemaker, you'll appreciate the Winexpert Island Mist Blackberry Wine Kit. This kit is designed to bring out the slightly tart acidity and pleasant sweetness that make blackberries so appealing. This Blackberry Wine Kit is a perfect complement to the robust and lively structure of Cabernet Sauvignon. Whether you're enjoying a main course, dessert, or just want a glass of wine on its own, this Island Mist Wine Kit is a versatile choice.

While the packaging of the Winexpert Island Mist Blackberry Wine Kit may appear different, rest assured that the changes are only superficial. Winexpert has refined these kits to be more compact, moving from a 7.5L size down to 6L, while still producing the same amount of wine. This means you can enjoy the same high-quality blackberry wine, but in a more convenient, space-saving package.

Here's what you can expect from your Winexpert Island Mist Blackberry Wine Kit:

- Slightly tart acidity: This brings out the natural flavors of the blackberries.
- Pleasant sweetness: This balances the tartness and adds a delightful finish to your wine.
- Versatility: This wine pairs well with a main course, dessert, or can be enjoyed on its own.
- Compact packaging: The kit has been downsized from 7.5L to 6L, making it easier to store.
- Same amount of wine: Despite the smaller package, you'll still produce the same amount of wine.

With the Winexpert Island Mist Blackberry Wine Kit, you're not just making wine, you're crafting an experience. Enjoy the process and the result.

• Sweetness: Sweet
• Body: Light
• Oak Intensity: None
• Kit Size: 6L
• ABV: 6.5-7%

"BOOSTING" GUIDE

 If you're a fan of the Island Mist Series kits but like your wines a little bit stronger, consider "bumping" them with 1 pound of corn sugar and 1 liter of grape concentrate. The boosting of an Island Mist series kit is easy and brings the alcohol content to approx 9.5-10%. Simply adding corn sugar alone will boost the alcohol of your kit without adding body or mouthfeel to support this increase. Doing this will leave your wine tasting "hot" and unbalanced. The addition of white or red grape concentrate leaves your wine with more balance and produces a more enjoyable end product. Both the 1 lb corn sugar and 1 liter of grape concentrate should be mixed in stage 1 after adding your main juice pack and before topping up to the 6 gallon mark with water.    

OTHER PRODUCTS YOU MIGHT NEED 

Equipment Kits

If your Island Mist Blackberry Wine Kit is your first, equipment kits are a very easy and cost effective way to obtain what you need to get started. Wine kits provide ingredients and instructions but do not provide equipment. The Vintner's Best Deluxe Wine Equipment Kit pictured here has everything you need to make a six gallon batch of wine. Each batch yields approx. 28 to 30 - 750ml bottles of wine. This kit is the top of the line and there are other equipment kits you can choose from for your kit. 

Equipment Kit includes
- 7.9 Gallon Fermenting Bucket 
- Lid with Grommet
- 6 Gallon Glass Carboy
- Bottle Filler
- Double Level Corker
- Triple Scale Hydrometer
- Easy Clean Cleanser
- Auto Siphon w/ siphon hose
- Carboy Bung w/ Airlock
- Corks 30 count
- Plastic Mix Stir that attaches to drill 

Fermenters

A 7.9 Gallon Fermenter with a grommeted lid is the right vessel to use for your Island Mist Blackberry Wine Kit because you need extra headspace to account for active fermentation. It is good to replace buckets from time because plastic harbors bacteria. Here's a link to our fermenter equipment.

Hoses

Many people reuse their hoses for far too long. Replacing your hoses often is highly recommended with winemaking. Even if you have good sanitation practices, hoses are particularly difficult to keep clean. You do not want to risk a bacterial contamination in your Island Mist Blackberry Wine Kit over something that costs very little to replace.

Siphons

Auto-siphons are a great luxury item to have in your winemaking equipment. Once you have one you will never go without one again. Don't forget to use a heavy duty sanitizer to clean it since you don't want to replace it often as hoses. A good sanitizer for that job is Five Star San. Like hoses, Siphons are also difficult to keep clean so it is advisable to replace them.

Corkers

Corking can be a big job especially if you make a lot of wine. The Italian Floor Corker pictured here is easy to use and makes corking fun.

Airlocks

Airlocks are another inexpensive product that should be periodically replaced. Though it might be easy to assume bacteria is not a concern with airlocks because they do not actually touch your wine, this is not the case. A small increase in temperature could cause your wine to swell and back up into the airlock. It happens often. You don't want to risk losing your Island Mist Blackberry over a potentially unsanitary and cheap piece of plastic.

Carboys 

Your Island Mist Blackberry Kit is designed to fit a 6 gallon carboy pictured here. Though glass carboys are one of the safest sanitary options for secondary fermentation and bulk aging your wine, they are fragile and break from time to time. If you use glass carboys, a carboy handle or carrier is very advisable. They should not be moved when full without carrying equipment.

Stoppers and Bungs 

Your Island Mist Blackberry will need to sit in a carboy during secondary fermentation and like airlocks, bungs and stoppers should also be periodically replaced, especially if you make a lot of wine. Stoppers are available drilled for use with airlocks or solid for bulk aging after your wine has fully gassed out. The size 6.5 stopper pictured is made for a 6 or 5 gallon carboy. If you have many different sized vessels, universal bungs might be a more economical option.

Hydrometers

Hydrometers can last a lifetime, if they don't break. If you have suffered the disappointment of breaking your favorite hydrometer you can view them here.

Corks

Winemakers always need more corks. Be sure to read the corker requirements of different corks before you make your selection because some cork sizes do not work with all corkers. 

 Mix Stir

You may be using the back of your stirring spoon to degas your wine but a mix stir is the best way to remove unwanted gasses. 

 DID YOU KNOW

Blackberries grow on every continent except Antarctica and are native to Europe, Asia, North America and South America.