Caragnan Black Grape

Fruit Maven — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:47:00 +0000

If you have ever considered making your own wine to impress your foodie friends when they pop over with fresh baked sourdough bread and they are babbling on about the starter they got from their great aunt bessie who got it from her sister‘s mother, then this is the fruit for you!

APPEARANCE 4 out of 5 stars

Deep purple globes bunched very close together with a lovely bloom

AROMA 2.5 out of 5 stars

Not discernable

TEXTURE 3.5 out of 5 stars

Juicy and soft, only the slightest bit gelatinous but it has seeds

TASTE 5 out of 5 stars

Sweet and deeply complex with layers of spicy grape flavor

OVERALL 3.75 out of 5 stars

This is clearly a grape that goes in to wine. In fact, I’ve been eating them and pretending to stumble around the house buzzed and delirious, then “passing out” right before I am supposed to do housework. It’s working like a charm – stop judging me. But back to the Carignan Black — it is complicated, juicy and wonderful. It has those pesky seeds, but the flavor here compared to regular grocery store grapes is worth the extra bit of work. A definite favorite.

FRUIT

Grape

VARIETY

Caragnan Black

PEAK

Fall

ORIGIN

French

GROWN

California

PURCHASED

Grocery Store

NOTES

“Carignan is a variety that has suffered greatly from image problems. As it has naturally high yields, it has long been used for mass produced wines and lower quality table wines.” More about French wine grapes.

RECIPES

Rosemary-Scented Flatbread with Black Grapes
Black Grape Smoothie

Fruit Maven » caragnan