My son-in-law, bless his heart, bought me a huge bottle of cheap chardonnay. I am not usually a wine snob but I could hardly make it through one glass. I froze some in ice cubes to use, in case of an emergency, in dishes when I am out of the good stuff but still had a lot left over. This recipe took a cheap, undrinkable wine & turned it into one of the best jellies I've had! I haven't tried it w/ cream cheese yet (not sure I will...I really like sweet pepper jelly for that) but it was wonderful on a buttered biscuit. There is a winish aroma to it but not in the flavor...not even a piquant aftertaste. LOL It really tastes like a gourmet white grape jelly...very good! I did not use a water bath on mine...I used the inversion method & every jar sealed. Oh, & I used a 3 oz. liquid pack of pectin instead of 2 oz. of dry...no problems w/ it setting up.
Wonderful!!... I pour the jelly in wine glasses and seal it with parrifin wax to give as gifts. The presentation is lovely.
This is a great recipe, as written. I had no problem with the jelly setting up with the powder pectin. I used a Cabernet Sauvignon first, then a White Zinfandel. Between the two, I actually preferred the Cabernet. There is a very pleasant, soft, light wine flavor. One reviewer gave hers as gifts but they didn't seem received well... What I did was invite people over for an open house, and actually served the White Zin over cream cheese with crackers, and the Cab was included in 2 desserts, one a pear tart with the Cab glaze, and the other I took a pound cake, cut in half, poked holes, heated jelly til it was pourable, poured it on the 2 sides of the pound cake, let it soak in... then I put whipped cream on the top of the bottom layer, replaced the top layer, then piped rosettes on top. It presented beautifully, and it gave my guests an opportunity to try what they were getting. This opened their minds to how good it really was. I also told them it was yummy on ice cream, too. A lot of people can't picture how things can be used, until you show them.
I have made this with Burgandy and Chardonnay. It is so odd - with the burgandy you think you are eating grape jelly (because of the colour) - and then you get this wine after-kick. It is really very good and very easy - they are very pretty made up also!
The flavor of this recipe is great but the consistency is not right for a jelly. It is more like a sauce. Taking warning from the other posters I used 3 oz of liquid pectin and it is still not jelly consistency. I think I would use about 6 oz to get it to gel correctly. The flavor is very tasty though. I the leftovers of 3 bottles of wine I had around. Since I made 7 (8 oz) jars intended for gifts I am going to market it as "wine sauce" to be used as topping for cheesecake ice cream or chocolate cake. Or as a dipping sauce or marinade for chicken or shrimp. If you want to make this as a jelly I would use 6 oz of liquid pectin.
Wine jelly is delicious whatever wine you use. I prefer white to eat on toast or fruit. Wine jellys are great for begginers to start with. They can be finished under an hour and there is no fruit preparation which can take hours to make. We happen to make our own wine so it's fairly cheap too. When making white wine jelly I reduce my wine in half by boiling it on the stove to increase the flavor. You can add herbs of choice savoury or perfumed or citrus rinds when reducing to flavour your jelly. Strain before adding sugar and pectin. This recipe is a larger size than most wine jellys for those that use liquid certo pectin packets I recomend two. I made two batches with one each but the jelly was on the soft side.
Wonderful! I made two batches following the recipe exactly one Merlot and one Chardonnay. Really tasty with cream cheese and crackers as the recipe author states. Also will be good as a glaze on roasts I think. I added a sprig of rosemary and some peppercorns to my Merlot jars and added some chopped candied ginger and sage to my Chardonnay jars. I used powdered pectin as listed and had no problem with it setting to a jelly consistency.
I was looking forward to this one so much. It had great reviews as well. I made it the first time it didn't set up. I made it a second time it didn't set up. I have made jelly before and this one just will not work for me. But I took the unset jelly and used it for pancake syrup. So it is not totally wasted. It was very good. But I sure would like to be able to make this. I am an experienced cook too. Have no idea what is wrong. Any suggestions?
i followed directions exactly except that i blended three kinds of red wine. jelly set up exactly as it should in rapid time. tastes exquisite. going try putting some up in short stemmed wine glasses and seal w parafin along w crackers and brie as xmas gifts for friends and neighbors
