I Like Plum Wine

I confess: I like plum wine. Sure it's the Manischewitz of Japan, pure confection, but I enjoy it after a Japanese meal. And it's cheap--about five bucks a glass at most Japanese restaurants. One doesn't speak of plum wine vintage. The brand is apparently of no consequence, as most restaurant menus just list plum wine, period. There's no such thing as "a very good year" for plum wine. Sauternes it ain't, by a country mile, or Moscato by a longshot, but I like it.

One Japanese restaurant I used to frequent served plum wine sorbet in the summer. The menu said "adults only."

My grandmother always ate stewed prunes, for regularity. Whenever I used to visit her, as a kid, I ate some of her stewed prunes. I loved my grandmother and I loved her stewed prunes.

Maybe that's why I like plum wine.