Why it works: Raisin and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,481 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Raisin Wine
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the raisin liquid
Strip the raisins from the stalk and place them in a large pot with the cold water.
Simmer gently for about 1 hour.
Rub the mixture through a sieve.
Ferment
Dissolve the sugar in the liquid, then add the raisin pulp and yeast.
Cover the vessel and let it stand for 3 days.
Strain the liquid into a cask.
Bung loosely until fermentation ceases, then tighten the bung.
Age and bottle
Allow the cask to stand for at least 12 months before racking the wine into bottles.
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.
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Raisin + sugartop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 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
- Supply the fruit flavour, body and natural sugars that the yeast ferments.
- Preserving sugar
- Feeds the yeast to produce alcohol and adds sweetness to the finished wine.
- Yeast
- Converts the sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide during fermentation.
The step that matters
Bung loosely until fermentation ceases. Fermentation releases carbon dioxide, which builds pressure in the cask. Tightening the bung too early can trap that gas and risk bursting the vessel or forcing the seal, so the bung stays loose until bubbling has stopped.
“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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