Wine + Red currant
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 148 recipes, and they share 75 flavor molecules: the top 15% of all ingredient pairs.
Do wine and red currant go together?
Yes. 148 recipes in our collection combine them, and they share 75 flavor molecules. That places them in the top 15% of every ingredient pair we score.
Why they work
More than half of red currant's flavor molecules (75 of 144) also occur in wine. Among the shared key aromas are isoamyl acetate (banana, pear) and ethyl benzoate (fruity, sweet). Most of what they share is background chemistry many foods carry, so the overlap does little for the smell.
What each one brings
wine
The fruit. Fruity notes make up 31% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 17% for red currant. It carries 463 molecules red currant doesn't have.
red currant
The tartness. Sour notes make up 18% of its labelled aroma molecules, against 6% for wine. It carries 69 molecules wine doesn't have.
Add a third ingredient
- Raspberry: the best fit for both, top 14% of pairs with wine, top 1% with red currant.
- Black currant: top 17% of pairs with wine, top 1% with red currant.
- Thyme: top 10% of pairs with wine, top 5% with red currant.
- Blackberry: top 12% of pairs with wine, top 5% with red currant.
Ranked by the average of its two pairing scores. Only foods used in at least 100 recipes are suggested.
Recipes with wine and red currant
Spread across courses: mains lead with 4 of the 9 recipes with a course label, then desserts (3).
Can you swap one for the other?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: wine has 463 molecules red currant doesn't, and red currant has 69 that wine doesn't. Treat them as partners, not stand-ins. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
All 75 shared molecules
See every shared molecule grouped by chemical class, with key aromas marked, plus the 463 only in wine and the 69 only in red currant.
Wine and red currant questions
Do wine and red currant go together?
A good pairing. Cooks put them together in 148 recipes, and they share 75 flavor molecules: the top 15% of all ingredient pairs.
Why do wine and red currant taste good together?
More than half of red currant's flavor molecules (75 of 144) also occur in wine. Among the shared key aromas are isoamyl acetate (banana, pear) and ethyl benzoate (fruity, sweet). Most of what they share is background chemistry many foods carry, so the overlap does little for the smell.
What goes with wine and red currant?
Raspberry is the best third ingredient: top 14% of pairs with wine and top 1% with red currant. Black currant and thyme also fit both.
What can you make with wine and red currant?
Spread across courses: mains lead with 4 of the 9 recipes with a course label, then desserts (3). Common dishes include Braised Red Cabbage, A Delicious German Pudding-Sauce, Botsford Inn's Honey Baked Ham with Cumberland Sauce, Cumberland Sauce.
Can I use red currant instead of wine?
Not really. Each has a lot the other lacks: wine has 463 molecules red currant doesn't, and red currant has 69 that wine doesn't. Treat them as partners, not stand-ins. This compares flavor only; texture, moisture and the job each does in a dish matter too.
Compare other ingredients
Ranks compare this pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. Molecule counts are what the studies and databases we aggregate have reported for each ingredient: a measure of coverage, not a full census. How we score pairs
Cite this analysis
Compound Kitchen (2026). Compound similarity analysis: Wine vs Red Currant. https://compkitchen.com/compare/wine-vs-red-currant. Accessed 2026-11-04.
@misc{compkitchen_compare_compound_similarity_analysis_wine_vs_red_currant_2026,
title = {Compound similarity analysis: Wine vs Red Currant},
author = {{Compound Kitchen}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://compkitchen.com/compare/wine-vs-red-currant},
note = {Accessed: 2026-11-04}
}
Methodology DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19719459 · CC BY 4.0 · Citations are a request, not a requirement.