Why it works: Raisin and sage work together. They rank in the top 22% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 26 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
Sage Wine
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the must
Boil the spring water for 15 minutes.
Let the water cool, then add the raisins, sage, and ale yeast.
Stir well and cover, letting it sit in a warm place for 6-7 days, stirring daily.
Ferment and bottle
Strain the mixture into a clean cask.
After 3-4 days, seal the cask and let it sit for another week.
Add 2 quarts of mountain wine and ½ cup of finings, then bottle when clear.
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.
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Raisin + sagetop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together26 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Malaga raisins
- Provide the sugar that yeast ferments into alcohol, along with fruit flavor.
- Ale yeast
- Converts the sugars in the raisins and water into alcohol and carbon dioxide.
- Red sage
- Contributes the herbal aroma and flavor that defines the wine.
The step that matters
Sealing the cask after the first days of fermentation. Fermentation is most active in the first days, when the mixture is strained and vigorous. Sealing too early can trap excess gas and pressure, while sealing too late exposes the wine to air, which can encourage spoilage. Timing the seal to the stated 3-4 days keeps fermentation controlled.
“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.
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