Blak Berree

TASTING NOTES

Oregon grows some of the world's finest blackberries. While the Oregon wine industry is largely known for its high quality Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris, it is by no means limited to those esteemed varietal wines.

Besides its reputation for fine dry table wines, Oak Knoll Winery has established itself as one of the premier producers of pure, superior quality berry wines in the United States. With a reliable source of excellent Oregon berries, and nearly forty years of winemaking experience, our berry wines have consistently ranked as one of the highest rated and most sought-after "dessert style" wines in the nation.

The key element to the success of this unique wine is its precise sugar - acid balance. Many fruit or berry wines are simply too sweet. The excessive sweetness is cloying and masks the wine's true fruit flavors. When there is just enough sweetness to balance the naturally high acidity found in raspberries, you achieve that wonderful smell and taste of fresh picked blackberries, as if you picked them right off the vine and popped them into your mouth.

Fine wine shops and restaurants seek out berry wines for their pure, concentrated depth of flavor, and ability to match exquisitely with a wide range of desserts. As an alternative to late harvest wine, port, or sherry ~ Blak berree is a delight to anyone who enjoys the true essence of this marvelous fruit.

HOW WE MAKE IT
Nearly one pound of fruit is used for each half bottle. Whole blackberries are frozen then thawed (this breaks down the berry's cell structure and helps release the juice) then pumped into a membrane press. After gentle pressing, the juice is cool fermented at 60 degrees F. to dryness.

Unlike grapes which have sugars and acids in the right proportions for winemaking when harvested, blackberries are much higher in acid (almost double) and much lower in sugar (about half). For the finished wine to be balanced, water must be added during fermentation to cut the high natural acidity. Sugar must also be added to augment the lower natural sugars and in turn yield a wine with the desired alcohol of 12% by volume. At this alcohol level, the fruit flavors are accentuated and there is no perception of alcohol "warmth". Sugar is then added a second time, just prior to bottling, in order to achieve the precise sugar-acid balance.