Raisin Juice is mentioned in many home wine making recipes. Raisin Juice adds body, sugar and flavour to the finished wine. It adds rich aromas and flavours that you only get from raisins.
We tell you how to make Raisin Juice Below, but if you would prefer to watch our quick 5 minute video on how to make it, you can watch our Video on How To Make Raisin Juice.
Can I Use Wine Enhancer instead of Raisin Juice? Wine enhancer is great, but it is not the same as raisin juice. Raisins have been dried and this concentrates their flavours, adds extra richness and even creates a toffee like flavour and adds extra colour.
Wine enhancer is just concentrated grape juice. It is great for adding extra body to home made wines, but it doesn't add the extra depths of flavour that Raisins add.
Can I Just Add Raisins Instead of Raisin Juice? The sun has dried the raisins and so pretty much all the water has evaporated from them. If you were to just add raisins to a wine, they would soak up the water and not release all their delicious flavours.
So what is Raisin Juice? Raisin juice are raisins that have been soaked over night so they become plump and juicy, then pulped or mashed so they release all their delicious flavours.
How Do I Make Raisin Juice?
If you are following a recipe, it will usually tell you the quantity of raisins to water depending on the recipe. But the rule of thumb is 250g or Raisins to 1 pint of water will be great when making a 1 gallon (4.5litres) batch of wine.
Simply put your 250 g of raisins into a heat proof bowl. Pour on the 1 pint of boiling water, stir and then cover with a lid or clingfilm and leave for 24 hours.
The raisins will have soaked up pretty much all the water and now are plump and juicy.
No we need to mash them. You can use a potato masher, or pop them in a liquidiser. Raisins are seedless grapes, so there are no pips to make the juice bitter. Win!
Then use your raisin juice as per the recipe.
At the end of the fermentation, you may wish to strain the pulp from the fermenter in a straining bag, so that you can squeeze out the wine that is trapped in the pulp. You can then use that to top up your demi-john.
Can I Make Wine From Raisin Juice? Yes you can. You'll need to make up about 6 Litres of Raisin Juice and then ferment this and you'll get an amazing, slightly sweet wine that's perfect as a desert wine. This will make about 6 bottles of Raisin Wine. Delicious!
Can I use currants or sultanas instead of Raisins? The good news is you can use raisins, currants or sultanas. If you cant get hold of raisins, then simply use sultanas or currants. There will be a difference in flavour and colour, but not enough to make a huge difference to the finished wine. Because they have been dried and concentrated, they all work perfectly to add that extra richness and flavour. Also be aware that some currants have been coated with oil when they were drying, so just check for that on the ingredients on the packet.
