Waste Not, Want Not | The Worlds Most Expensive Jelly

Elise StimacFarm Life, Recipes7 Comments

Pinot Noir grape jelly made from the Precoce clone at Three Feathers Estate & Vineyard.
Waste Not, Want Not | The Worlds Most Expensive Jelly made from Pinot Noir.
Pinot Noir jelly made from the Precoce clone of Torio Vineyard.

Brix, Birds and The Worlds Most Expensive Jelly

Waste Not, Want Not is part of our continuing effort to find creative uses for our harvested Pinot Noir grapes that don’t go into wine-making. As I explained last year in my recipe for Blackberry Pinot Noir Sauce, I have a problem with wasting grapes.

During pre-harvest months, while we wait for the grapes to ripen, a lot of testing is done to gauge the sugar level in the grapes.  If I am being very stingy, I take one big fat grape, squeeze the juice onto the portable refractometer and check the sugar level that way.  As we get closer to Harvest, however, I must pick numerous clusters, crush the grapes to extract the juice and and test it.  Most of the time the grapes and the juice after discarded after testing.

Portable refractometer to measure grape sugar levels
Portable refractometer for measuring grape sugar levels.

I have found that Pinot Noir grapes make marvelous jelly. The seeds are full of pectin, the substance that allows the juice to gel, so it is easy to cook up a batch from the juices after testing. I make a few jars at a time. When I told Dan, my winemaker at Lady Hill, he said, “ well, that must be the world’s most expensive jelly”; so that’s what I call it!

Précoce Grapes at Torio Vineyard

One of the clones in Torio Vineyard (our second vineyard property), is an early ripening varietal called Précoce. We planted it keeping in mind our higher elevation and the advantages of a quicker ripening clone; an advantage that depends on a short cool vineyard season.  This year, however, has been a warmer vineyard season with little rain.  The Précoce has ripened before our other fruit and we had to make a strategic decision between holding it longer on the vine to pick with the other fruit, or picking it earlier and making a separate wine. Our solution this year is to tackle the logistical challenge by covering the plants with netting and waiting until the whole vineyard is ready for picking.

Ripening Pinot Noir grapes on the vine, Precoce clone
Ripening Pinot Noir grapes on the vine, Precoce clone, protected by bird netting before harvest.

This is where the birds come in.  As the fruit gets to 21-22 Brix, the birds find it very attractive.  Without netting there would be no fruit to pick by the time the other plants are ready. We only netted the mature plants, however, thereby leaving several uncovered rows to our feathered friends.  What could I do with the fruit before the birds ate it all?  Make the Worlds Most Expensive Jelly!

How To Make The Worlds Most Expensive Jelly

Making jelly is tricky.  The hardest part is getting it to “gel” without over cooking it or using too much sugar.  It is the pectin in the fruit that causes it to set and some fruits have more pectin than others. You can add a commercial pectin according to the directions or add a few apple peels to the grapes as they cook to help them gel. 

As shown in the photo above, the grapes are cooked up, seeds and all, and then strained in a jelly bag. To test if the jelly is ready, take a metal spoon and drip some of the jelly from the spoon onto a cold dish.  The jelly will start to solidify on the spoon before it drips onto the dish.  The jelly that lands in the dish will set and you can take a knife and run it through the jelly.  If that leaves a line then it should be done.

Waste Not, Want Not – Pinot Noir Jelly Recipe

I have excerpted the recipe for grape jelly making from an old book that I have used for years:

Remove the grapes from the stems, put over a slow fire in an agate or white-lined saucepan, and let simmer very gently, until the fruit is softened throughout; then pour into a bag and drain off all juice possible.  Take one cup of sugar for each cup of juice; heat the sugar, spread on shallow dishes, in the oven; meanwhile heat the juice to the boiling point and let boil rapidly about five minutes, skimming as needed; add the sugar and let boil until a little will jelly on a cold saucer or from the tip of the spoon.  Have ready jelly glasses on a folded cloth and surrounded with water heated nearly to the boiling point.  The glasses should also contain hot water.  When the jelly is done, pour the water from the glasses, fill with jelly, and remove from the pan of water.  When cold, cover with paper.

Canning, Preserving and Jelly Making by Janet McKenzie Hill published in 1939
Waste Not, Want Not | The Worlds Most Expensive Jelly made from Pinot Noir.
Juicer and canned Pinot Noir grape juice

Juicing Pinot Noir

As an alternative to making jelly, which I can’t really eat any more because of the sugar content, I extract the juice from the berries in a steam juicer and can the juice in jars.  That is great for making smoothies or just drinking and it keeps for years.

Waste Not, Want Not | The Worlds Most Expensive Jelly made from Pinot Noir.

7 Comments on “Waste Not, Want Not | The Worlds Most Expensive Jelly”

    1. We used a generic grape jelly recipe for this. Pinot Noir grapes have a considerable amount of pectin that helps to jellify successfully. Beyond that, any reliable grape jelly recipe should work!

    1. Hi Andrea – Here is our method: allow the pulp to simmer on the stove until it has pretty well dissolved. Give it a few mashes with the back of a spoon to help it along, but it won’t take long. Pass the pulp through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds; alternatively, put the pulp and liquid through an extractor which will remove the seeds by maybe some of the skins depending on the machine. We prefer to use a mesh strainer. Cheers!

    1. Hello,
      We are more than happy to provide the recipe! Since this is such a popular blog post, we have decided publish an addendum with the recipe and tips. Please Stay Tuned!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *