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Saturday, January 10, 2009

Cabernet Jelly



This is a recipe for perfectly ripe high quality Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. These were picked October 19, 2008 at 25.6 brix.

6 1/2 Cups Cabernet juice
4 Cups sugar, divided
1 cup water
1 packet (1.75 oz.) "Surejell" (pink - premium package)

For 6 1/2 to 7 1/2 Cups juice you will need about 6 1/2 pounds grapes. Remove stems by hand and mash grapes with 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar. Simmer in large non-reactive pot for 10 minutes. Drain through cheesecloth in a colander. This should yield 6 1/2 cups juice or more. Mix pectin with 1/4 cup sugar - mix into juice. Bring to boil. Add remaining sugar and boil one minute, stirring constantly. Put jelly in prepared sterilized jars, add lids as directed in your canning instructions and process 10 minutes.

Why do I give out this recipe? Because it worked for me - and there are no recipes that I could find on the internet for real top quality wine grapes. We racked the cabernet sauvignon and merlot wine today and the jelly recipe came to mind. The cab is in a new oak barrel from Demptos here in Napa. It is as yummy as the jelly, but needs quite a while to be ready to bottle. Maybe 2010.


4 comments:

Gwyn said...

yum. i'm going to have to try this.

alyson sullivan said...

First off thanks for the recipe and second , when you made it was it runny and thin , I made it yesterday and it's still really thin. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

juliana inman said...

HI Alyson - it sounds like the Surejell did not jell for you. What were the brix for your grapes? They need to be very ripe. These were at about 26 brix.

Anonymous said...

Don't mix the pectin with the sugar until the fruit mixture and pectin have come to a full boil for at least a minute then mix in the sugar. The sugar inhibits the pectin from firming