Plum Wine Recipe

Clean and sanitise the equipment

Wash away all visible dirt first. Prepare the sanitiser according to its label, then sanitise the fermentation bucket, lid, large coarse straining bag, spoon, measuring jug, thermometer, hydrometer, trial jar and anything else that will touch the cooled must.

Prepare the plums

Wash the plums, remove leaves and stalks, halve them and remove every stone. Weigh out 2.5–2.75kg of prepared fruit, place it in the sanitised large coarse straining bag and crush it lightly. Do not blend the fruit or crack the stones or kernels.

Make the first sugar syrup

Dissolve 700g brewing sugar in about 1.5 litres of boiling water. Stir until no crystals remain.

Build and cool the must

Put the plum bag into the sanitised fermentation bucket. Pour the hot sugar syrup over the fruit, stir in the full 250ml white grape juice concentrate, then add cool water until the liquid level is roughly four litres. Stir and allow the must to cool below 25°C.

Add the Campden tablet

When the must is below 25°C, crush one Campden tablet to a fine powder, stir it in thoroughly and fit the sanitised lid. Leave for 12 hours.

Add the pectolase

After 12 hours, stir in one teaspoon of pectolase. Replace the lid and leave for another 12 hours. Plums are naturally high in pectin, so this step is particularly useful for juice extraction and later clearing.

Drain the fruit temporarily

Lift the fruit bag with sanitised hands or utensils and let it drain over the bucket for about 10 minutes without wringing it. Place it in a sanitised bowl while the liquid is measured.

Set the initial liquid volume

Stir the liquid thoroughly and add cool water to bring it to approximately 4.2 litres. This leaves room for any small sugar solution needed after the hydrometer reading.

Take the first hydrometer reading

Make sure the must is close to the hydrometer's calibration temperature, normally 20°C. Use a well-mixed, mostly pulp-free sample and read the hydrometer at eye level.

Adjust the sugar only if needed

Aim for a final starting gravity of 1.085–1.095. If the reading is low, dissolve 50g brewing sugar in about 40ml boiling water, cool it below 25°C, add it and stir thoroughly. Retest and repeat only as required, using 25g portions when close to the target.

If the gravity is slightly high, the final water addition will lower it. Do not keep adding sugar simply to use the full 1kg packet.

Make the final volume 4.5 litres

Return the fruit bag, then add cool water to make the total batch exactly 4.5 litres. Stir thoroughly and take one final reading. Record it as the original gravity, or OG.

Add nutrient and yeast

Stir in one teaspoon of yeast nutrient. Prepare the Gervin GV11 according to the sachet instructions and use the full sachet. Keep the fermenter at 18–22°C.

Manage the first 5–7 days

Fit the lid and airlock. Once or twice each day, sanitise the spoon, gently push the fruit bag beneath the liquid, stir briefly and replace the lid immediately.

Remove the plums

Remove the fruit on day five if vigorous fermentation has clearly slowed. Leave it until day seven if it remains very active, but do not leave the plums in for longer than seven days. Let the bag drain without hard squeezing.

Transfer to the demijohn

Syphon the wine into the sanitised demijohn, leaving the thickest pulp and sediment behind. Avoid pouring or splashing. Fill to around the shoulder, then fit the sanitised bung and airlock.

Let secondary fermentation finish

Keep the demijohn at 18–22°C and out of direct sunlight. Begin checking the gravity after fermentation has clearly slowed, usually a couple of weeks after the fruit is removed.

Confirm fermentation with two readings

Take a hydrometer reading, then repeat it at least 48 hours later. Fermentation is complete only when the readings are identical and normally around 0.995–1.000. If the gravity is above 1.010 and does not move, do not bottle it.

Rack the finished wine

Once the gravity is stable, syphon the wine into a clean, sanitised demijohn and leave the sediment behind. Minimise splashing, refill to the shoulder and replace the airlock.

Allow the wine to clear

Leave the wine somewhere cool, dark and steady. Rack again only when roughly 1cm or more of fresh sediment has collected. Plum wine can carry fine fruit pulp and pectin haze, so allow several weeks or months for it to become bright.

Check that it is ready to bottle

Bottle only when the gravity is stable, the wine is clear and no meaningful new sediment has formed for at least two weeks. There is no advantage in rushing a young plum wine into bottles.

Bottle without splashing

Sanitise the green wine bottles, syphon tubing, corks and corker as their instructions require. Syphon gently into each bottle and cork them. Keep them upright for the first 24 hours, then store them somewhere cool and dark.

Mature before drinking

Allow at least six months from brew day before judging the wine. Nine to twelve months usually produces a rounder, more integrated plum wine, especially with darker or more tannic varieties.