"waxed" plums???

[Rocknrandyc]

I bought some black plums to make a batch of wine. The skins feel like they have been waxed. Since I'm not usually a "plum" guy can anyone tell me if this would adversely affect my wine or not? Does anyone know if plums are waxed for shipping?

 

[Luc]

Nature puts a coating of wax on plums.

I described that in my web-log last year:
http://wijnmaker.blogspot.com/2007/07/soms-lopen-de-dingen-in-het-leven.html

This is not done by humans but a process from nature.

This wax coating however will prevent your wine
from clearing in the end.

So before processing the plums give them a bath
in soda ash (household soda) then rise them in plain water.

If you wash them in hot water with soda most color will come
off and you will end up with a blush wine.
Rinsing them in hand-warm water with soda, the wax will come off but it will leave most color intact and you will get therefore a much darker wine.

Luc

 

[winemanden]

You're right Luc. An old boy at our wine club made nothing else except Plum wine and he could never get it properly clear. I showed him a tip in Gerry Fowles (Gervin) magazine similar to yours to wash them in water with a spot of washing up liquid then rinse them well. He tried it with his next batch and was like a dog with two tails when he managed to get it to clear.
Regards, Winemanden.