# Use of Raisins in wine recipes



## WineyTexan (Nov 19, 2010)

I am starting a batch of Jalapeno Wine and the recipe I am using calls for golden raisins.

Are the raisins just for body? or is there another reason for them?

Can I substitue Welchs White Grape Juice Concentrate and get good results?


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## BobF (Nov 19, 2010)

WineyTexan said:


> I am starting a batch of Jalapeno Wine and the recipe I am using calls for golden raisins.
> 
> Are the raisins just for body? or is there another reason for them?
> 
> Can I substitue Welchs White Grape Juice Concentrate and get good results?


 
I used Welch's niagara conc instead of raisins in my jalapeno. Came out GREAT!


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## UglyBhamGuy (Nov 19, 2010)

i made an apple juice based and a white grape concentrate based and added golden raisins to the apple juice as i didn't want to have the flavors fighting for prominence. LOL.


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## Luc (Nov 19, 2010)

Raisins are in it for different reasons:

a) raisins add body to a wine
b) raisins contain bout 50% sugar so they contribute to the SG and alcohol level in the end.
c) raisins add nutrients
d) raisins add flavor

Beware that raisins also contain sulphite (look at the packaging).

Read my story on raisins here. It gives you various tips also on how toi get rid of the sulphite:

http://wijnmaker.blogspot.com/2007/11/rozijnen-raisins.html

Luc


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## PPBart (Nov 19, 2010)

WineyTexan said:


> I am starting a batch of Jalapeno Wine and the recipe I am using calls for golden raisins.
> 
> Are the raisins just for body? or is there another reason for them?
> 
> Can I substitue Welchs White Grape Juice Concentrate and get good results?



There's at least one recent thread about this... Here's a quote from First Steps in Winemaking, C.J.J. Berry, pg 22: 

"Grape concentrate is perhaps even better used as an additive in fruit wine musts, to improve their vinosity. (This was the purpose of including 1/2-lb or 1-lb raisins -- dried grapes -- in old-time recipes). Try substituting ¼-pint (140 ml) grape concentrate for ½-lb raisins, and include this much concentrate in every gallon of your wine."

After using raisins for years, I've now begun to add Welch's concentrate instead.


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## Midwest Vintner (Nov 20, 2010)

Luc said:


> Raisins are in it for different reasons:
> 
> a) raisins add body to a wine
> b) raisins contain bout 50% sugar so they contribute to the SG and alcohol level in the end.
> ...



^good info here.


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## WineyTexan (Nov 20, 2010)

Thank you for the information. I did not treat the raisins when I used them in my batch of Plum Wine and I have had a slow fermentation. But I also didn't use a yeast starter. But I'm learning! Two more questions about the raisin vs grape juice concentrate:

Does the grape juice concentrate give the wine a "grapey flavor"?
Is it ok to use "Welchs" Grape Juice Concentrate from the grocery store or should I buy something special online?


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## Teamsterjohn (Nov 20, 2010)

Luc, just read your story on raisins, I have used raisins 2 times sofar. Now im going to do it your way. LOL, it was a big pain in the butt to cut them. Should give some more body to it also.


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## TStarr (Nov 20, 2010)

hmmmm I was told to use Sultana's, as Raisins add more of a flavour to anything they are added to.


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## WineyTexan (Nov 22, 2010)

One more question about adding raisins. When making a must with fruit/raisins/sugar should you wait several hours before adding the sugar and taking an SG reading? Or do the raisins "up" the sugar level right off the bat?


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## RedNeckWino (Nov 29, 2010)

Thanks Luc. Raisins are re-hydrating now. I have 5 gallons of blackberry going and wanted to build some body to it. Great explanation with the instructions. I like knowing why I am doing, not just blindly do.


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## bruno (Nov 30, 2010)

I just started some blueberry wine which I used 5 pounds of raising with the 15 pounds of blueberries. I mashed the blueberries but just threw the raisins in the primary. Initially, the sg measured 1.005. I let the must sit for 2 days prior to adding sugar and the sg increased to 1.050. I'm thinking the raising were the cause of the increase in sg.


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## gird123 (Nov 30, 2010)

I made 5 gallons of Jalapeno with 5# of raisins. I took an sg of 1.071 added pectic enzyme and 12 hours later took the sg again it had climmed to 1.094.


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## frohe (Dec 3, 2010)

WineyTexan said:


> Can I substitue Welchs White Grape Juice Concentrate and get good results?



I use Welch's white grape concentrate all the time in my wines - to top off and to add body. It works great since it has so little taste to compete with the main flavor.

I make a one can's worth of juice each time and keep it handy in the fridge for when I need it.


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## Luc (Dec 4, 2010)

WineyTexan said:


> One more question about adding raisins. When making a must with fruit/raisins/sugar should you wait several hours before adding the sugar and taking an SG reading? Or do the raisins "up" the sugar level right off the bat?



Raisins have the sugar in the fuir flesh like any fruit (remember its just dried grapes). So they will not release the sugar immediately. It will be released during a few days.

As a general rule you can say that raisins contain about half of their weight in sugar. So calculate with that when adding sugar.
You could have read that on my blog about raisins 

For the record:
Raisins and Sultana's are basically the same.
Sultana's originally are just raisins that came from Turkey (the sultans).

Luc


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## ellijaywinemaker (Dec 4, 2010)

Luc you are the raisin master


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## BobF (Dec 4, 2010)

Luc said:


> Raisins are in it for different reasons:
> 
> a) raisins add body to a wine
> b) raisins contain bout 50% sugar so they contribute to the SG and alcohol level in the end.
> ...


 
Luc - I love your analysis and blog. Tons and tons of great info based on actual research.

About raisins vs grape concentrate. It seems to me that since both come from grapes, then both of them would contribute the same things to wine, with two exceptions; tannin (from skins) and flavor.

Yes, they both contain flavor, but grape juice tastes like grape juice and raisins taste like raisins.

Tannins can be added more predictably as a separate addition - if and when I want more tannins.

Based on this, I add grape concentrate when I want grape flavor, sometimes with a separate tannin addition, and raisins when I want raisin flavor!!!


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