Plum wine

I haven't had any for years...but used to always have a glass with my sushi. Is it made from plums? What do you all think of it? Do you think it's a good match with sushi?

Hi Maria!

Great question - I can't remember the last time we've discussed plum wine or any other non-grape fruit wines here. To be perfectly honest, the last time I had a plum wine was in the summer of 1998! It was a Damson Plum wine made by Sunnybrook Farm Winery in Niagara on the Lake. I think it was dry, but I can't recall exactly. It had a beautiful colour - intensely saturated ruby-purple - and it had a very poignant nose. The acidity was also very powerful, and although I was fascinated by the wine, I found it a tad difficult to drink. Still, because the setting was outdoors and around a campfire, it was pretty good. I think it was oaked - overoaked, to be precise. Your post makes me wonder if Sunnybrook still makes that wine.

Sorry about the sushi part - I've never tried sushi so I can't say.

but used to always have a glass with my sushi. Is it made from plums? What do you all think of it? Do you think it's a good match with sushi?

Maria,

Are you talking about "Japanese plum wine" (i.e., Ume shu)? If so, that's probably not what many (including Paul above) would call plum wine, as Ume shu (the Japanese "plum wine") is a liquer made from steeping fruit in distilled alcohol.

Ben

Gee Ben...I have no idea. It probably is Japanese plum wine since I always ordered at a sushi place. I would just say, "Can I have a glass of plum wine?". They would give me a glass of a very thick, sweet, alcoholic beverage. It never seemed very potent though.

I have little experience with plum wine, but I thought I'd add a comment on non-grape wines. For several years I was involved with running a fairly large annual home wine competition. There were several categories of grape wines. Non-grape wines were divided into berry fruit, tree fruit and "other". Berries, such as blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, elderberries, etc. generally make better wines than tree fruits such as apple, peach, cherry, etc. In fact, one of the nicest wines I ever tasted was a blueberry entered in one of these contests. Not unlike a decent Cab. "Other" included such things as potato, pumpkin, tomato - the reasons for which I fail to understand.

Gee Ben...I have no idea. It probably is Japanese plum wine since I always ordered at a sushi place. I would just say, "Can I have a glass of plum wine?". They would give me a glass of a very thick, sweet, alcoholic beverage. It never seemed very potent though.

It may be called plum wine, but as mentioned above, "plum wine" is shochu with green plums and sugar, hence the sweetness. Which may cover the alcohol, but plum wine is usually 30-40% alcohol, much more than "normal" wine.

Well, this won't classify as wine, either, but I developed a liking for slivovice from the Czech Republic. Popularly known as plum brandy and prevalent pretty much throughout eastern Europe (by various names), it's actually distilled from fermented plum juice. A nice aperitif, but certainly not what Maria was enjoying with her sushi.

A nice aperitif, but certainly not what Maria was enjoying with her sushi.

Although with less sweetness, it might actually go better with most unsauced sushi than umeshu.

Yup - Sunnybrook is still making their dry Damson Plum wine! However, it's much lighter now given the picture, than it was in '98.

Check it out

Do you think it's a good match with sushi?

Having been early and loyal customers of a nice local Japanese restaurant, the owner frequently provides us with complimentary small glasses of chilled plum wine after dinner. I really don't picture it with my sushi, but it sure is an enjoyable dessert treat.

-- Clark