Why it works: Currant and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,256 recipes. The science ↓
Currant Wine
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the must
Place the currants, stems included, in a tub and mash them well.
Add the water and set in a cool place, stirring occasionally for three days.
Drain the liquid through a sieve and squeeze the pulp in a cloth.
Add the sugar and stir until dissolved.
Ferment and age
Transfer to a barrel or cask and store in a dry, cool cellar.
Once fermentation is complete, seal tightly and leave for the winter.
In spring, rack off before the second fermentation and bottle after it completes.
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.
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.
-
Currant + sugartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,256 recipes
Currant and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,256 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
- Currants
- Provide the fruit, acid and flavour that give the wine its character.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast during fermentation and sets the final sweetness and alcohol level.
- Water
- Dilutes the fruit juice to a workable volume and carries the sugar through fermentation.
The step that matters
Sealing after fermentation is complete. Once the sugars are consumed, air exposure lets bacteria and oxygen spoil the wine, so the cask should be sealed tightly to protect it over winter.
“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 currant wine recipes
You might also like
Black Currant Cordial11 recipes
Vegetable Soup350 recipes
Raspberry Vinegar214 recipes
Brown Coffee with Egg175 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.