Raisins

Adding raisins/sultanas or a small amount of grape concentrate to the bulk fruit adds body/depth to the wine. So long as you don't over do it it will enhance rather than change the flavour. I think about 1/2lb per gallon (UK) is recommended.

Sorry if this is a 2nd post the 1st didn't appear yet

I have seen in the past on fruit wines to add raisins. Why, what purpose is it (body). I just made a peach wine with 35 Lbs of peaches. Will adding raisins change the flavor much and, how much should I add? Tom

35 lbs of peaches to make how much wine? When I have made peach in the past I used about 15lb peaches for 5 gal of wine. I rounded this out with about 2 gal of white wine or the equivalent in concentrate. This has worked very well. Tim

Tim:

What does 'rounded this out' mean?

Thanks!

Steve Oregon

Sorry if this is a 2nd post the 1st didn't appear yet

I have seen in the past on fruit wines to add raisins. Why, what purpose is it (body). I just made a peach wine with 35 Lbs of peaches. Will adding raisins change the flavor much and, how much should I add? Tom

Tom, raisins are grapes, and grapes add a vinuos quality to wine that no other fruit matches. But raisins can affect the flavor, although that is largely a function of which lind of raisin you use.

For peach wine, you would obviously want to use a white or golden raisin. These are usually made from Thompson Seedless Grapes, which are fairly neutral in flavor. You could also just use crushed fresh Thompsons in the wine. If you can find them, try Sultanas, the raisins of muscat grapes. They offer a nice flavor enhancement to peach.

Finally, you can try adding a white grape concentrate.

For raisins, use anywhere from one-half to one pound per gallon of wine -- the lower number is sufficient for body improvement. For grapes, use no more than two pounds per gallon. For grape concentrate, use 11 ounces per gallon.

Jack Keller, The WInemaking Home Page

Not sure what's going on but, my last 3 posts never showed up.

I have seen in the past on fruit wines to add raisins. Why, what purpose is it (body). I just made a peach wine with 35 Lbs of peaches. Will adding raisins change the flavor much and, how much should I add? Tom

I have seen in the past on fruit wines to add raisins. Why, what purpose is it (body). I just made a peach wine with 35 Lbs of peaches. Will adding raisins change the flavor much and, how much should I add? Tom

This is for 6 gallons of wine. I'v made it before with 30 lbs per 6 gal

Oily raisins ??

All the raisins I can find here in Brisbane, Australia are a) not golden b) in bags containing raisins in vegetable oil.

Is the oil a problem, or is it normal for raisins to be packed with oil?

Should I try and look harder to find raisins that do not have the vegetable oil?

Thanks for your opinions,

Karel

Karel, I have never encountered raisins packed in oil. The only ones I've seen are dried and sold in bulk or packaged in boxes or plastic bags.

I would not try fermenting anything packed in oil. It just sounds to difficult to remove prior to fermenting and fermenting with the oil on is a risk -- oils can go rancid and spoil the wine.

If you cannot find dried raisins or sultanans, use grapes or grape concentrate.

Jack Keller, The Winemaking Home Page

Karel, this might be a simple differences in terminology. Australia? Look for Sultanas (what we call raisins). find them in the supermarket in bulk bags, or at a Binn Inn (I think they're in Australia as well as NZ).

A simple substitute for raisins would be frozen white grape concentrate. Be sure it does not have preservatives but it will work great.

Ray