These truly majestic trees have to be seen to be believed – in full fruit they are a sight to behold, and what better way to appreciate their unique beauty than sitting beneath one feasting on their very unusual fruits. Don’t forget to look up and marvel at their ancientness (is that even a word?) and typical pine form, with branches at right angles to the trunk. As an added bonus, the fruits are packed with antioxidants and cancer fighting phytochemicals, according to this report from 2012 (which has a very long title so click and see for yourself!). We like to think that at least some of these qualities are preserved in our Plum Pine dessert wine, just as grape wines do with the antioxidants from the juice of the grapes.
Plum Pines in the picking net
So May is harvest time for the plum pines, and we are always keen to hear from landowners who have these trees on their property – not least because only the female trees fruit, and usually every second year – meaning we can only pick fruit from one out of every four trees annually. And if you have fruit to spare, we will be happy to return the favour with a bottle or two of elysium’s finest! Of course we drag the kids along to help (?) and when they’re not complaining they entertain themselves quite nicely as you can see from this photo… they also love it when they find a “double-seeder” which is sort of like finding a four-leaf clover.
“Barbed Wire with Plum Pines”, by Rocco Sharman
