Raisins are simply dried grapes. As such, they will make a wine almost as good or as bad as would the original grapes from which the raisins were made. In the making of fruit wines, raisins are often used to add body and vinousness to the wine. Many of the recipes within The Winemaking Home Page use raisins in this role. Dark raisins will make a dark, somewhat brownish wine. White or golden raisins will make a white or golden wine. Here is the basic raisin wine recipe:

RAISIN WINE
  • 4 lbs raisins
  • 1 lb sugar
  • 1 gallon water
  • 1 crushed Campden tablet
  • 1 tsp pectic enzyme
  • 1 tsp yeast nutrient
  • 1 pkt wine yeast
Put water on to boil. Meanwhile, chop the raisins or run them through a mincer. Put raisins, sugar and yeast nutrient into primary. When water boils, pour over raisins and stir until sugar dissolves. Cover with a sanitized cloth and set aside to cool. When at room temperature, add crushed Campden tablet and stir. Recover primary and set aside for 12 hours. Add pectic enzyme, stir, recover primary, and set aside another 12 hours. Add activated yeast. Stir daily for 7 days. Strain and press juice out of raisin pulp. Transfer liquid to secondary and fit airlock. Rack, top up and refit airlock every 30 days until wine clears and no new sediments form during a 30-day period. Stabilize, sweeten to taste, wait 10 days, and rack into bottles. Like most wines, it will improve with age.