[Sca-cooks] sugar substitute for wine making?

[Phil Troy/ G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach Mark S. Harris:
>Adamantius commented:
>>Are we talking about some kind of priming sugar, as for a carbonated
>>wine like Champagne (for example), or the actual, fermentable sugar
>>(either naturally occurring in the fruit or added) that provides the
>>basis for fermentation. If you're talking about priming sugar (just
>>in case), I believe Digby mentions putting a raisin or two in each
>>bottle to prime/carbonate the bottle.
>
>
>If I remember correctly, Digby is talking about only a small amount
>
>of raisins. Not really enough to greatly effect the sugar level. I
>think the purpose of the raisins is simply to supply natural yeasts,
>which often live on the outer skin of the grapes.

Yeah, I'd call one or two raisins a small amount ;-) . Could be the
surface yeasts, but I would opt for the small amount of concentrated
sugar they provide, since there is already at least some yeast left
in the fermented product. And having looked at raisins after they've
been used for this purpose, I would suspect the yeasts think so, too.
Maybe the sugars _and_ the yeasts are criteria.

Adamantius (who primes kvass that way)

--
"No one who cannot rejoice in the discovery of his own mistakes
deserves to be called a scholar."
	-DONALD FOSTER