Lesson learned. The hard way :(

ALWAYS sample the fruit first from the farmer. I just purchased 20lbs. of plums. Came home to prepare. Tasted and they are garbage. Pure mealy garbage. These are black plums. Since I don't waste, and refuse to give them to the ducks or chickens, I am hoping to fix this mess. Literally the worst plums I have EVER tasted!!! In essence, always sample the goods. Now I know. And fellow new wine makers using fresh fruits, just make sure to include this major important step. Now I have to figure out what to do.

Man how can I be so stupid. I just want to smack myself with a dirty dish wrag! Ughh.

It is bummer...
But is not a loss...
Relax...
Have a glass of wine and...
Dream a little...
You'll blend up with something!

What's wrong with the plums? If they are spoiled, there isn't much you can do. But if they are low in sugar, or high in acid, those are the types of things that can be fixed at least to an extent.

How are they the worst plums you ever tasted (seriously, what aspect of the taste is bad?)?
If plums are like apples, the taste of the plum is nothing like the tase of the finished product. Try to imagine the taste of the plum without the sweetness. Its kinda like that... Sorta.
For example... The Kingston Black apple is supposed to be the best single variety of apple for making cider. Its also supposed to taste so bad that you can't eat it fresh.
FYI... If you dry the pits, they burn pretty good.

Okay the plums aren't sweet tasting and are mealy. The only description I can give is mealy. Almost like they have a forced ripened taste. The texture is like modern grocery apples. No crisp or bite. An awkward feel. Not a good feel. I know apples taste nothing like plums but understand, they have that grainy moosh bite. I get my apples personally harvested because I cannot get a good one in the store for years. The plums are taking on that same texture., not taste. They are tasteless. The skin isn't even sour. I say they were picked to be ripened at the market.

So what do u think I can do to fix them?

Plums like apples was just a simple reference. A store bought tomato is nothing like my home grown tomatoes. So imagine the difference

Honestly, I have never had such a bad fruit. I have to question where they came from now. VERY discouraged that even our plums are being processed like this btw I am a fruit and veggie grower. My climate doesn't allow me to grow certain fruits, but I kinda know what a lot lf north American varieties should taste and feel like, and these are not right. Just like apples from the store. And tomatoes. That mealy weird texture. Its hard to explain I think?

Hey I have the label still. I wonder if I can track these plums? Would that help with rectifying this. I cannot express how mealy and terrible these plums are. Since getting into this I have always been told that your wine is as good as your fruit.

I heard a rumor that the plums were bad... perhaps even mealy :cross:

You might try juicing them to see what you get. Once you get away from the fruit texture (which may simply mean they were frozen at some point, not that they were or are bad or unsafe) you might find that sweetening and blending with another fruit can pull this out of the disaster column. Keep us posted.

I made a really excellent plum jam with some otherwise pretty lousy plums this year... Just pitted and cooked with the skins (for color), then ran them through a food mill, sweetened with white sugar, added a tbsp of lemon juice per pound, and canned in a hot water bath. You could also cook it down further, add cinnamon and allspice, and do a plum butter (did a batch of that last year, and it's very good).

ong said:

I made a really excellent plum jam with some otherwise pretty lousy plums this year... Just pitted and cooked with the skins (for color), then ran them through a food mill, sweetened with white sugar, added a tbsp of lemon juice per pound, and canned in a hot water bath. You could also cook it down further, add cinnamon and allspice, and do a plum butter (did a batch of that last year, and it's very good).

Click to expand...

Mmmmmm. Plum butter.....

Ya. Sorry for the rant earlier. I ended up feeding chickens, ducks, and tortoises after all of that whining I did. Thanks for the tips and suggestions. Oh and always sample the fruit first LOL.

Hey Hollie, my wife and I have a small farm, too. Sounds like you've got the end of the year burn out going bad! Just remember you aren't alone in this. All our friends, that farm anyway, get pretty grouchy around September. Nights are getting longer, sleeping season is upon us! I'm a brewer, not a winemaker, but I bet the yeast won't mind the mealy texture. if you decide to cook them instead of fermenting, try looking for 'plum cardamom jam' online. Several recipes to choose from. Good luck!

Haha TNGabe. I'm not sure it was burnouts as much as my own stupidy lol. I mean, WTH was I thinking by not tasting the fruit first Sleeping season starts next week!