Plum wine

[wood1954]

So I planted a plum tree to fertilize my Black Ice plum tree, and never expected this. Last year there were maybe a dozen plums, this year hundreds. I forgot the name of the plum but it tastes kinda like bubble gum. If they ripen I’ll make a sweet wine to emphasize the bubble gum flavor. I think I should have thinned the plums earlier.

 

[BigDaveK]

I forgot the name of the plum but it tastes kinda like bubble gum.

Please tell me it's not this easy...
Stark Bros sells one called "Bubblegum plum".

 

[Ohio Bob]

I planted a pear tree 15 years ago, never got a pear. My neighbor recently planted some trees, a pear was one of them. This year I have at least a dozen pears.

 

[sour_grapes]

I planted a pear tree 15 years ago, never got a pear. My neighbor recently planted some trees, a pear was one of them. This year I have at least a dozen pears.

So you were finally able to grow a pear?

 

[wood1954]

Please tell me it's not this easy...
Stark Bros sells one called "Bubblegum plum".

That’s it! It was to flower at the same time as the black ice, but it doesn’t.

 

[winemaker81]

I planted a pear tree 15 years ago, never got a pear. My neighbor recently planted some trees, a pear was one of them. This year I have at least a dozen pears.

Must be one of those species that requires cross pollination.

 

[BigDaveK]

That’s it! It was to flower at the same time as the black ice, but it doesn’t.

It's also called the toka plum but that would have taken the fun out it.

You're so lucky! I can't grow any stone fruits. Fungal disease. Tried a couple times, used sprays, gave up. And I LOVE a delicious sweet plum.

 

[wood1954]

It's also called the toka plum but that would have taken the fun out it.

You're so lucky! I can't grow any stone fruits. Fungal disease. Tried a couple times, used sprays, gave up. And I LOVE a delicious sweet plum.

Hopefully I’ll make some quaffable wine, my last attempt at plum wine was too dry and too acidic. So a question, if I put plum wine thru MLF will it be too flat?

 

[winemaker81]

Hopefully I’ll make some quaffable wine, my last attempt at plum wine was too dry and too acidic. So a question, if I put plum wine thru MLF will it be too flat?

It depends on what acids are in plums. If there is a significant amount of malic acid, then MLF may make a difference. If there's tartaric, cold stabilization may make a difference.

A while back someone (@Rice_Guy ?) posted a table that listed the predominant acids in common fruits, but I didn't think to save it at the time, and didn't find it in a search.

The easiest solution is to ferment dry, stabilize, and backsweeten. A small amount of sugar may be sufficient to address your problems, without making the wine too sweet.

I have a commercial Vignoles that is listed as a sweet wine (RS 5%), but is perceived as off-dry, as the acid level is high. The same for my FWK Blackberry and Strawberry.

 

[cmason1957]

Oddly enough the primary acid in plums is malic acid (at least that is what Wikipedia says - Malic acid - Wikipedia.

But, I'm not sure I would go the MLF route with plum wine. I think I would add just a hint of sugar and see if you like the taste better. I would worry that putting the wine through MLF will dull the taste so much that it doesn't taste like anything at all. You don't have to make this a sweet wine as Bryan points out.

 

[reedrph]

I currently have 5 gallons of wild plum wine native to Oklahoma Tx, etc and have sampled. At first was very bitter and astringent. Over the last couple weeks has mellowed significantly and with a small amount of sugar is quite nice already. Following Jack keller on this one, he says don't try it for 2 years, and may take 3! Ouch! I plan to Bottle some in beer bottles and test every 6 months to see when I really want to drink it. It was really a pain to deal with as there is about as much pit as pulp in each plum. Does make awesome JAM after cooking down and running thru a manual collander. I was tempted to process that way for the wine also but thought I would try the raw plums this year and maybe if I wasn't impressed try the cooked method next year. I then used the must to start a Skeeter Pee. Also in secondary and coming along nice

 

[heatherd]

In another forum there's a person making plum wine and considering using a Jack Keller recipe. How much plums to use is the question they're asking. The Keller recipe is 6# per gallon. I searched but didn't find what @BigDaveK and others are using in terms of fruit ratio.

 

[BigDaveK]

In another forum there's a person making plum wine and considering using a Jack Keller recipe. How much plums to use is the question they're asking. The Keller recipe is 6# per gallon. I searched but didn't find what @BigDaveK and others are using in terms of fruit ratio.

@heatherd I generally plan for 6 # minimum per gallon of fruit but there's another very important factor - flavor. No flavor no wine, why bother? I cancelled at least 3 wines last year for lack of flavor and I was definitely disappointed.

It breaks my heart that I've only made plum wine once and it's because I haven't had a delicious plum in a couple years. Last year I was gifted with 8#s of plums, some flavor but sub-par. I wanted a plum wine, darn it, so I supplemented with a lb of prunes. Decided to go with a dessert wine, step feeding, finished just shy of 18%. Bottled last week, delicious, and it tasted like Fu-Ki plum wine that I drank A LOT of in the 90's.

Always looking for a good plum!

 

[NoQuarter]

@heatherd I generally plan for 6 # minimum per gallon of fruit but there's another very important factor - flavor. No flavor no wine, why bother? I cancelled at least 3 wines last year for lack of flavor and I was definitely disappointed.

It breaks my heart that I've only made plum wine once and it's because I haven't had a delicious plum in a couple years. Last year I was gifted with 8#s of plums, some flavor but sub-par. I wanted a plum wine, darn it, so I supplemented with a lb of prunes. Decided to go with a dessert wine, step feeding, finished just shy of 18%. Bottled last week, delicious, and it tasted like Fu-Ki plum wine that I drank A LOT of in the 90's.

Always looking for a good plum!

I have had a very different experience.
My wife hates figs, I grow them and make fig wine every year..its her favorite.
Neither of us like the taste of elderberries but it makes a great wine.
I do age country wines a rather long time but the wine never taste like the fruits,( maybe retains the fruits smell); just like wine made with grapes don't taste like.....grapes.

could also be due to worn out taste buds.