Heard through the grapevine: "New" raisin may be in vogue

FRESNO, Calif. — Pity the poor raisin. It starts life as a middle-class grape and never attains the social status of its cousins: chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon and others destined to become fine wine.

But it may soon get a boost. University of California researchers taste-tested the sun-dried delights and asked consumers whether they prefer those dried traditionally on paper trays to those dried on the vine.

They found the different methods produce subtle taste differences and preferences among raisin eaters.

Can raisin snobs be far behind?

"I could see someone doing raisin tasting at Whole Foods or a recipe calling for a certain kind of raisin based on taste," said Matthew Fidelibus, a researcher at the University of California's Kearney Agricultural Center.

The testing — which looked at variations in fruitiness, chewiness and color — may offer California's $333 million raisin industry a new marketing angle to exploit.

California growers produce nearly all of the nation's raisins and about 40 percent of the world's supply.

Grape experts tested the raisins with 120 raisin eaters recruited on the UC Davis campus and found widely divergent fancies.

"The differences were fairly pronounced," said Hildegarde Heymann, a wine expert at UC Davis who also worked on the testing.

Researchers found that grapes dried on the vine were fruitier, softer and lighter in color. The ones dried on trays were a bit more sour, chewier and stickier.

"The [dried-on-the-vine] raisins have the sour tannin flavor that you catch in some wines. I don't care for it," said farmer Earl Rocca, 78, who has grown raisins in Fresno since 1950.

Many of the 4,500 growers in the south San Joaquin Valley would not be able to afford to switch to vine-dried grapes, Fidelibus said.

About 90 percent of raisin farmers grow the Seedless Thompson, a grape that doesn't lend itself to on-the-vine drying. Growers would have to replace their grapes with varieties such as those tested, the Selma Pete and Fiesta.

There are other drawbacks. Grapes on the vine take longer to dry, about a month versus as little as 10 days for those on paper trays, exposing them to potential rain damage.

But growers who can afford the machine to harvest them will reduce their need for workers, a shortage of which many farmers are bemoaning. Immigration crackdowns have made it harder for farmers to put workers in the fields this year.

For the past few years, Sun-Maid Growers of California has offered a relatively small supply of vine-ripened raisins, available only through the online company store, said Barry Kriebel, Sun-Maid's president. The No. 1 use for raisins is in other products: cereals, cookies, snack bars.

Fidelibus said he and others will continue researching raisin tastes.