Umeshu (Plum Wine) Taste-Off — munchies review

by Kris   ⋅   December 28, 2006   ⋅   Comment now   ⋅    RSS

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Dreamlogic.net hopes you had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to New Year celebrations. Although Chris and I don’t really drink because we’re naturally high (LOL), and we think that the only good champagne is one drowned out in a mimosa or frozen into a sorbet, we do enjoy the occasional glass of sweet Japanese plum wine. Just for fun, we decided to do a little comparison review of three major brands. We chose one from Trader Joe’s, one from Safeway(?), and one from Nijiya and lined the glasses up. They actually looked like little urine samples in retrospect which is kinda gross so forget I mentioned it. This will be brief since I’m no sommelier, and because we wanted the cheapest stuff out there, well we got what we paid for.

First up is Kobai, a California white wine with natural plum flavor (that’s always a bad sign) and a pretty gradient purple label. It’s from the Gekkeikan Sake branch in Folsom and we bought it from Trader Joe’s for five bucks. It has a bitter bite and tastes just like white wine. What a gyp! :( Some seasoned wine drinkers tell me it’s sweet to them, but I’m giving you all the layman’s review. The color is a darkish caramel, so it was nice to look at at least.

On the other hand, Kinsen (also $5) is the lightest and dullest color. I’m also guessing it has the least amount of tannins, or that oily residue that clings to the sides of your glass as you’re swishing it around trying to look like you know what you’re doing when you’re picking out wine. It actually feels like just juice on your tongue, so to say it has a diluted air would be an understatement. It also manages to be sour despite this. It’s bottled in Berkeley, at the Takara Sake plant. So maybe the moral is not to purchase wine from major Sake distributors.

Drum roll please! Choya comes out on top with a product actually made in Japan. It’s a highly palatable syrupy wine with just the right amount of vegetable-like contrast. It’s much like a digestif dessert wine since it’s very sweet but also pretty potent. There’s even a bunch of meaty crunchy ume plums at the bottom of the postmodernish convenient flip-top bottle that you get to munch on when the liquor is gone. It’s almost like a present within a present sort of thing. The label says “Choya will satisfy your tastebuds to the last drop” and it so does. You can pick up a groovy green cylindrical bottle of Choya for only about $10 at Nijiya or other fine asian markets. Maaaybe you’ll even want to ring in the New Year with the stuff.

About the Author:

Kris Kobayashi-Nelson prefers Choya ice cold, neat, but umeshu can be served over ice, mixed with tonic or soda, or even hot (blended with two parts hot water). Hot or cold, please don’t drink it and drive.

Related Articles

• Hoshi — restaurant review — California
• GocHi Japanese Fusion Tapas — restaurant review — California
• Tanto — restaurant review — California
• Curry Udon — homecooking — recipe
• Mochi Madness pt.2 — Yomogi Daifuku with Kinako — homecooking
• Mochi Madness pt.1 — Ichigo Daifuku “Glaciers” — homecooking