Why it works: Brandy and wine are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,427 recipes. Both carry gamma-nonanolactone, which smells coconut, sweet. The science ↓
To Make Raisin-Wine
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the must
Boil the water.
Let the boiled water cool.
Combine the cooled water with the raisins in a large tub.
Let the mixture ferment for 4 to 5 weeks.
Stir the mixture once a day for the first two weeks, then twice a day.
When most raisins burst, press the liquid from the fruit as clear as possible.
Age in the cask
Transfer the pressed liquid to a cask.
Leave the cask unstopped for 2 to 3 months.
Check the cask weekly for fermentation signs.
When fermentation slows, add the brandy to the cask.
Seal the cask tightly.
After 6 to 8 months, rack off the wine from the lees.
Fine and bottle
Fine the wine with isinglass.
Beat 1.5 ounces of isinglass into small pieces.
Dissolve the beaten isinglass in 1 quart of wine.
Whisk until it becomes a jelly over a week.
Add the egg whites to the isinglass mixture.
Whisk the mixture together.
Incorporate the mixture into the wine.
Bottle the wine after it has been fined.
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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Brandy + winetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,427 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Raisin + brandytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,768 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Brandy + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,340 recipes
Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).
-
Raisin + eggtop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,556 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Raisin + winetop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,324 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Raisins
- Provide the sugar and flavour that fermentation turns into wine.
- Brandy
- Raises the alcohol content and helps preserve the wine once added to the cask.
- Isinglass
- Fining agent that gathers suspended particles so the wine clears.
- Egg whites
- Help carry the isinglass through the wine to bind haze and clarify it.
The step that matters
Seal the cask tightly after adding the brandy. Once fermentation slows, sealing keeps air out so the wine does not oxidise or spoil, and the spirit stabilises it for ageing.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (brandy, wine, egg):
- Currantfits better
- Apricotfits better
- Grapefits better
- Raisinthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against brandy, wine, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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