Experimental "grape packs", courtesy of Amazon

[kyle5434]

In the spirit of experimentation, I ordered a variety box of these from Amazon. They're raisins made from actual wine grapes, with the seeds still inside, and without any other preservatives. The "best before" date is Apr/May 2019, so I have plenty of time to play.

wineraisins

• kyle5434
• Jan 22, 2018
• 3

 

[baron4406]

Are you gonna try and make wine from them? I'm thinking they might work well for "fortifying" juice buckets

 

[kyle5434]

The plan is use them as an adjunct. I'll probably try using 2 or 3 packets in the primary with a WE Selection Premium Chateau Du Roi and/or Valpolicella I now have in the queue (treating them similarly to the "GenuWine" grape skins that ship with some of the RJS and Master Vintner kits).

 

[Country]

I love this idea. Can you confirm the grapes are not freeze dried or too oxidized to use in wine making?

 

[kyle5434]

They're not freeze-dried - simply dehydrated wine grapes with the seeds (and a few short stem pieces, according to the reviews on Amazon). Per the ingredients list on the packages, there are no sulphites or other preservatives - just dried grapes. I haven't opened any yet because I won't have a free carboy for either of the kits I plan to use these in for another couple of months.

Aside from the negative Amazon reviews from folks who were expecting more conventional seedless raisins and didn't like the crunchiness of the seeds (and stems), most reviewers seem to report they have a good flavor.