Selfsufficientish.com

Bottled the plum wine I started three months ago. There's always a little that won't fit in the bottles.. tasted very nice and I can recommend the recipe. A very fruity, sweet dessert wine or perhaps an aperitif. If you can get hold of them, bottling into half-bottles might be useful for a dessert wine like this.

2.5kg frozen plums (Marjory's Seedling, halved and stoned before freezing)
1.5kg sugar
Pectic enzyme
Nutrient
Yeast (Young's Super Wine Yeast Compound)
Water to fill the demijohn

The frozen plums were added directly to a large maslin pan (jam pan) with water to about 4l (including the displaced volume of the plums). This was heated until the plums had fully defrosted. It was loosely covered and allowed to cool. The pectic enzyme was added and it was left for 48hrs. The juice was then strained through a jelly bag and into the demijohn, reserving 1l of juice. The sugar was dissolved in the reserved juice over a low heat, and then this added to the demijoihn. Check for temperature before pitching the yeast and nutrient. Top-up to the neck with water once the initial ferment has died down. From memory the initial ferment was not particularly frothy.

Racked once after a month and then left to itself for another couple of months. This wine cleared extremely well. I was worried about this as most recipes for plum wine report that it can be very difficult to clear. It will now be left to mature in the bottle for as long as I can resist it.

Which, let's face it, won't be long

Mike

MKG wrote:Which, let's face it, won't be long

Mike

It will have to wait until we have friends round.. far too potent for full size bottles when there's just two of you!

Does anyone know where I can get proper half-bottle wine bottles (preferably clear)? I use the cork-stoppered nocturnes for liqueurs but I wouldn't trust the seal with a wine.

Hi

There is a place in Worthing West Sussex that does half clear wine bottles. It is called Johnson Homewine Supplies and their website is www.brewathome.co.uk.

They did warn me though that they sell them very quickly at this time of the year when people start making sloe gin etc. I ned to get there soon to get my own!

Good luck

Poochie Pie

quick note - just checked their website and it doesn't list the small clear wine bottles - best give them a ring as they definately do have them and i thought they were cheap at around 70p each.....

PP

Yep, plum wine can be yummy if you get it right.
I always use standard screw-top wine bottles now. Just check them occasionally in case they build up pressure - although with mine that's rare.
That way you don't have to drink in one go, will last several days in or out of fridge. Anyway, they are lucky if they get that much of a chance.
Enjoy

Poochy Pie wrote:There is a place in Worthing West Sussex that does half clear wine bottles. It is called Johnson Homewine Supplies and their website is http://www.brewathome.co.uk.

They did warn me though that they sell them very quickly at this time of the year when people start making sloe gin etc. I ned to get there soon to get my own!

Thanks for that

I'll bear that in mind for the next batch.. there's several bags of plums still in the freezer, and as I made the error of halving and stoning them they're proving unsuitable for crumbles but very suitable for wine - the next one they contribute to may be a mixed orchard/hedgerow port (plum, blackberry, elder, rosehip, sloe) if I can get out next weekend and grab some more blackberries and elderberries for the freezer

Marc - I have considered screwtops (I have plenty saved) but I'd rather use new closures (if I can find them) as they do tend to lose the compression seal after use. I do have a vacivin set I bought to adapt for degassing, so storing a bottle a few days shouldn't be a problem.


The last 300ml or so that wouldn't fit in the bottles has been sat in the fridge in a 500ml pop bottle, serving this one chilled is certainly to be recommended.