Name: Plum & Sloe Country Wine
Total time: 192 h
Yield: 1 gallons
Ingredients: 1.4 kg Victoria plums, stoned and roughly chopped; 400 g sloe berries (frozen to break the skins); 400 g white sugar; 3.5 l water; 1 tsp wine yeast (Lalvin RC212 or similar); 1 tsp yeast nutrient; 0.5 tsp pectic enzyme; 1 item Campden tablet; 1 item Lemon Juice; tsp grape tannin (or 1 cup cold black tea)

About this recipe

Plum and sloe wine is a deeply flavoured, tannic country wine that makes excellent use of late-summer and early-autumn hedgerow harvests. This homemade plum wine recipe combines the rich, jammy sweetness of Victoria plums with the astringency of sloe berries to create a beautifully balanced, port-like country wine. It's one of the finest recipes in the British country winemaking canon, robust, complex, and absolutely stunning when aged for a year or more.

Ingredients

Victoria plums, stoned and roughly chopped1.4 kg

sloe berries (frozen to break the skins)400 g

white sugar400 g

water3.5 l

wine yeast (Lalvin RC212 or similar)1 tsp

yeast nutrient1 tsp

pectic enzyme0.5 tsp

Campden tablet1 item

Lemon Juice1 item

grape tannin (or 1 cup cold black tea)tsp

Method

1

Stone and chop the plums. Combine with the frozen sloes in a sanitised fermentation bucket.

2

Pour over 3.5 litres of cold water. Add Campden tablet and lemon juice. Cover and leave 24 hours.

1 day

3

Add pectic enzyme and leave a further 12 hours.

4

Dissolve sugar in the must. Aim for SG 1.095–1.105.

5

Add tannin, yeast nutrient, and pitch the yeast.

6

Ferment on the fruit for 6–7 days, stirring daily and pressing down the cap.

7 days

7

Strain through muslin into a demijohn. Press gently, avoid extracting bitter oils from the stones.

8

Rack after 4–6 weeks and again after another 6 weeks.

9

Bottle once fully clear. This wine is astringent young, ideally age 12 months before drinking.

Brewer's notes

Brewer's note: The sloe skins contribute significant tannin; if the wine tastes too harsh, age longer or blend with a sweeter, lower-tannin wine. A small amount of glycerine (1–2 tsp) added before bottling smooths the texture beautifully.

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