Why it works: Sugar and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,212 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Orange Wine
Ingredients
Directions
Make the liquor
Boil the sugar in the spring water for 30 minutes, skimming constantly.
Pour the boiling mixture over the thinly pared rinds of the oranges.
Ferment and age
When nearly cool, add the strained juice of the oranges, yeast, and isinglass.
Let the mixture ferment for 2 days.
Transfer to a spirit cask.
Bottle the wine after 1 to 6 weeks.
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.
-
Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and orange barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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
- Lisbon sugar
- Provides the sugar that yeast ferments into alcohol, and the sweetness of the finished wine.
- Seville oranges
- Supply the juice and aromatic oils from the rinds, giving the wine its citrus flavour.
- Yeast
- Converts the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide during fermentation.
- Isinglass
- Fining agent that helps clear the wine by binding suspended particles so they settle.
The step that matters
Skimming the boiling sugar syrup. Skimming removes foam and impurities that rise as the sugar boils. Leaving them in can cloud the wine and add off flavours.
“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 orange wine recipes
You might also like
Orange Syrup47 recipes
Orange Water Ice28 recipes
Vegetable Soup350 recipes
Raspberry Vinegar214 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.