The message
from David Rance contains these words:

On Sun, 6 Aug 2006, Mike Lyle wrote:

I'd never boil, though: for my taste, it spoils the flavour. I've never
bothered with measuring OG, either: I just work on the principle that
every quarter-pound of sugar in a gallon, if fermented right out,
raises the alcohol by 1%. So for most fruits, three pounds or so, added
in two or three stages, plus some grape juice or concentrate, is about
right.


And you're right - never, NEVER, boil the fruit for wine-making,
especially if it contains pectin. If you do the haze will never clear.

David (in Normandy!)

I just wanted to come back to this point about boiling. Last summer I
made plum wine and it is still very murky. I've been looking again at
recipes and they all seem to say add boiling water to the plums. This
isn't quite the same as boiling them but I think it's what I did last
year.
I'm about to try geengage wine and I'm wondering whether to just chop
them up and mush them (they're very ripe and juicy) with some
pulverising instrument or my hands. Will this do? Am I likely to lose
some of the flavour etc if I don't add boiling water?

Janet G