Are you a raisin connaisseur? Probably not. But UC’s Kearney Agricultural Center ran taste-tests comparing grapes dried on paper trays to those dried on the vine. 120 tasters were recruited at UC Davis. The results seemed to favor vine-dried raisins: “Grapes dried on the vine were fruitier, softer and lighter in color. The ones dried on trays, like the common supermarket raisin, were a bit more sour, chewier and stickier.” However the vine method does have a sour tannin flavor that some do not prefer. Vine drying takes longer and is not suited for the Seedless Thompson grapes which most raisin farmers grow. But a foodie niche market for luxury grapes is certainly a possibility.