Why it works: Sugar and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,939 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Gooseberry Wine
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the water and sugar together for 15 minutes, skimming well.
Let the mixture cool until almost cold.
Bruise the gooseberries in a marble mortar and add them to your vessel.
Pour the cooled sugar water into the vessel with the gooseberries.
Let it stand for 2 days, stirring every 4 hours.
Soak the isinglass in the brandy for 2 days, then strain it into the wine.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Gooseberries
- Provide the fruit flavour, acidity and aroma that define the wine.
- Lump sugar
- Feeds the yeast during fermentation and provides the wine's sweetness and body.
- Isinglass
- A fining agent that helps clear the wine by gathering suspended particles for removal.
- Brandy
- Soaks the isinglass for fining and raises the wine's alcohol content.
The step that matters
Soak the isinglass in the brandy for 2 days, then strain it into the wine.. Isinglass must be fully softened in brandy before it is added, so it disperses evenly and clears the wine rather than leaving clumps or cloudiness.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
More gooseberry wine recipes
You might also like
Vegetable Soup350 recipes
Raspberry Vinegar214 recipes
Brown Coffee with Egg175 recipes
Blackberry Cordial129 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.