Do Plum Wine Products Expire?

In general, plum wine does not have an expiry date because it is an alcoholic beverage.

According to Japanese law, all food items must be labeled with an expiry date or best before date. However, alcoholic beverages are an exception to that rule.

Alcoholic beverages do not spoil or “go bad” in the conventional sense. Their flavours and aroma may change as time passes, but that does not make them unsafe to drink.

As alcoholic beverages like sake and plum wine age, they tend to become sweeter and mellower in taste and richer in texture. People who prefer this taste might buy alcoholic drinks at the store and keep it in their home for years before drinking it.

Also, all store-bought plum wine is made and bottled under strict hygienic procedures, ensuring that spoilage occurs at a very slow pace, if at all.

However, please take note that there are a couple of important differences between store-bought and homemade plum wine.

Why Does Store-Bought Plum Wine Have Short Best Before Dates?

Store-bought plum wine has a low alcohol percentage, and many of them contain food additives. This means that once you open the bottle or carton, its flavour will deteriorate quickly. Because of this, plum wine makers use a short “best before” date to encourage buyers to drink their plum wine quickly before the taste changes.

Unopened store-bought plum wine undergoes chemical changes as well, just not in the same way as opened plum wine. If you want to keep your unopened store-bought plum wine for a long time, the best way to protect its flavours is to keep it in a cool, dark place away from sunlight and heat sources.

How to Make Opened Plum Wine Last Longer

Plum wine deteriorates when it comes into contact with air. It might become less flavourful, or the fruity aroma might gradually disappear. The lower its alcohol percentage, the faster it will deteriorate.

After you open a bottle or carton of plum wine, it’s best to store it in the refrigerator. The cold temperatures will slow down the rate of deterioration and keep it tasting fresh longer. Even so, we recommend consuming carton plum wine within 6 months, and bottled plum wine within 1 year.

Spoiler: The Bottled Ones are Better than the Cartons

Store-bought plum wine comes in two kinds of packaging: glass bottles and paper cartons. Bottled plum wine lasts longer after being opened because it is sealed with a tight lid preventing air from flowing through. Carton plum wine, like cartons of milk, don’t have a proper lid; air can pass in and out of the carton freely and cause the plum wine to oxidize.

Bottled plum wine is pricier than plum wine cartons, but it might be worth it if you aren’t planning to drink your plum wine quickly.

Can I Buy A Jar of Plum Wine and Drink it 10 Years Later?

The short answer is: Yes.

If you’ve found a random bottle of plum wine that you bought 10 years ago and are thinking about drinking it, it should be okay.

In fact, some people love aged plum wine, or as they like to call it, “vintage” plum wine, with all its quirks, and they go out of the way to age it themselves at home. And believe it or not, there are people who can’t tell the difference between aged and non-aged plum wine. In any case, old plum wine that has been kept in proper conditions is safe to drink.

Aging Your Bottle? Put it in the Basement, Not the Fridge. 🙂

For plum wine to age properly, it needs to be kept at a constant room temperature. If you want to try aging a store-bought bottle yourself, remember to store it in a cold, dark place (like your basement, or inside a cupboard) rather than the refrigerator.