Concord grape wine (Fragolino in Italian) is a unique marvelous wine for those who have the fortunate chance to taste it. It is a red wine with an intense natural strawberry flavor distinctive to the Concord grape, called Uva Fragola in Italian, strawberry grape. Unfortunately, it has been banned in Europe and cannot be produced commercially. You can only produce for personal consumption, but it is not easy to make. If you are still curious to know how to make Fragolino wine, here is the recipe.
Disclaimer: If you are planning to make it and have never made wine, you may want to research additional information, as I am not an expert.
To try the real Fragolino, you need to know personally a skilled farmer who welcomes you to their home and is willing to share this precious wine with you.
Luckily, my cousin Roberto Lombi (the one who makes tomato sauce in a barrel) is an agronomist working with Calabria farmers. He has several grateful clients who occasionally offer him a bottle of this precious wine, which is why I had a lucky chance to try it.
Roberto also kindly shared the recipe with me, as I was eager to make it. He knew it was not going to happen.
You will not find process photos on this recipe because I never tried to make it...too tricky, as you will see.
Although I had a large quantity of Concord grape, so I made these other recipes I am sure you will like to try instead: Grape jam and Concord grape jelly.
What is Concord grape?
Concord grapes are native to North America, Massachusetts. They are very different than regular grapes. Their skin is dark blue and thicker than regular grapes. The skin is easily removed, called the skin-slip variety.
Although if you bite the grapes, the inside is very bitter.
So, we eat them by squeezing them out of their skin and swallowing them like a pill.
You only taste the strawberry!
Give it a try if you had a good harvest and cannot eat them all. I may do the same next year.
Ingredients
- Strawberry grapes - Concord grape
- Yeasts for winemaking
- Sulfur dioxide or metabisulphite
Instructions
Here is how to proceed:
- Press the grapes, preferably with a destemmer crusher, otherwise with the feet
- Trigger yeasts for winemaking. Those in its peel are rarely good
- Macerate from 8 to 25 hours, not longer. The tannins of the strawberry grapes are not very good
- Try to keep the temperature between 77 and 95 F - 25 and 35 C. Prepare frozen bottles to cool down if the temperature of the fermenting mass rises too much
- Press and continue fermentation in a tank or barrel, always keeping an eye on the temperature
- When fermentation ends (it no longer releases gas) check that it no longer contains sugar and hermetically seal the container
- After 40 - 60 days, the wine must be decanted (using a little sulfur dioxide or metabisulphite) in a clean and always airtight container. This is to remove it from the lees, which would give bad smells.
- After another couple of months (depending on the climate) check if the wine is clear and
pleasant. Bottle it and drink it !!
Equipment
- Destemmer crusher
- Fermentation bottles
- Tank or barrel
- Second container to decant the wine
Top tip
Disclaimer: If you are planning to make it and have never made wine, you may want to research additional information, as I am not an expert.
The real Fragolino wine made with strawberry grape is only produced in a region of Austria, Burgenland, where it is allowed as a traditional product called Uhudler.
If you are making this Concord Grape Wine Fragolino, leave your comment below I would like to hear from you. You can find more delicious ideas if you FOLLOW ME on Facebook, YouTube, or sign up to my newsletter.
📋Concord Grape Wine Fragolino
Equipment
- Destemmer crusher
- Fermentation bottles
- Tank or barrel
- Second container to decant the wine
Ingredients
- 15 stones Strawberry grapes - Concord grape
- 1 oz Yeasts for winemaking Check quantity on lable
- 1 oz Sulfur dioxide or metabisulphite Check quantity on lable
Instructions
- Press the grapes, preferably with a destemmer crusher, otherwise with the feet15 stones Strawberry grapes - Concord grape
- Trigger yeasts for winemaking. Those in its peel are rarely good. Follow instructions on the package1 oz Yeasts for winemaking
- Macerate from 8 to 25 hours, not longer. The tannins of the strawberry grapes are not very good
- Try to keep the temperature between 77 and 95 F - 25 and 35 C. Prepare frozen bottles to cool down if the temperature of the fermenting mass rises too much
- Press and continue fermentation in a tank or barrel, always keeping an eye on the temperature
- When fermentation ends (it no longer releases gas) check that it no longer contains sugar and hermetically seal the container
- After 40 - 60 days the wine must be decanted (using a little sulfur dioxide or metabisulphite) in a clean and always airtight container. This to remove it from the lees which would give bad smells.1 oz Sulfur dioxide or metabisulphite
- After another couple of months (depending on the climate) check if the wine is clear and if it is pleasant.
Notes
Nutrition
Jon Hosford
Thank you for your recipe.
I took 2 cuttings of Uva Fragola from a friend’s vineyard in Tasmania and planted them in my vegetable plot in Tas. Over 2 years they have grown to produce 35 kg of robust, thick-skinned fruit. I have found these grapes to be disease free without spraying.
This year ( 2024 ) I made some wine from the 35kg of grapes. This made 20 x 750 ml bottles. Specific Graavity prior to fermentation was 1.060= 8.1% A/V potential. It is quite a nice wine fermented to dryness. I have chosen not put it through a secondary fermentation to make it sparkling. I used your recipe, adding a tablespoon of bentonite after the fermentation to clarify the wine. It is a lovely colour and tastes fruity. Acidity is well balanced.
Laura
Well done, I am so glad you managed to make it as it is not an easy recipe. Thank you for sharing