"Lum" > wrote in message >...
>
> Grape concentrate is made by removing water from juice. The water is
> removed by heating the juice to 120 - 140 F in a vacuum vessel. A material
> called hydroxymethylfurfural is produced (from sugar) when grape juice is
> heated to these temperatures, and hydroxy-methylfurfural produces a
> distinctive taste in wines made from concentrate. This is why most wine
> competitions have separate divisions for wines made from concentrate.
>
> Lum
> Del Mar, California, USA

This is an interesting subject, usually with a lot of passion on both
sides of the fence (kits vs. grapes). In terms of the judging context,
I'm curious what people think about the last year result of the
Winemaker mag's competition, which had grape and kit wines in the same
categories and on the whole kits did at least as well as grapes. Is it
because advances in processing now enable kit producers to concentrate
juice without the cooked flavor, or is it because the judges are not
trained to recognize it?

Thx,

Pp