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Hiya,

Has anyone made any of this and is it nice?
I have a few recipes but they say 1 tsp pectolase - what is that for and is it really necessary?
Prefered recipe also calls for yeast nutrient - is that the same as yeast or is it something different?

Has anyone got a good, simple recipe for plum wine please - preferably with no things like pectolase etc - here in France they use nothing except the fruit and sugar so it is difficult to obtain all these extra add-ins.

Also, if a recipe says grape concentrate, is this the same as grape juice u can buy from the supermarket?

Thanks Wendy

Hi Chadspad
Some fruits contain a naturally occuring protein called pectin (the suffix -in = protein). When subjected to heat, the chemical changes within the pectin causes it to "denature" (effectively change shape at a molecular level), which in turn alters its chemical behaviour (think of the change in appearance in egg white when you cook it).
Heat makes pectin "jellify", which is great if you're making jam but a real pain for wine maker. To combat this, an enzyme called pectolase (suffix -ase = enzyme) is added to destroy any pectin in the fruit.
Now I think that Luath has made fruit wines without adding pectolsse to the mixture but I've been lead to believe that plum wine tends to be more challenging to the home producer. I suppose you could always try without.
By the way, have you visited http://stores.ebay.co.uk/THE-GRAPE-AND-HOP-SHOP
quite often they have pectolase for sale there.

OK, chemistry lesson over.

Hi Chili Monster

Thanks for the detailed explanation and the link. I have been looking on ebay for this and some other things I think Im gonna have to bite the bullet and buy if my wine making is to continue successfully - least the stuff can be used for several batches. Thanks again, youve made it much clearer to me!

Wendy