North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Kieran &/or Donna" <holycow@frontiernet.net>]

Someone told me that the Mirabelle was from eastern France and was famous 
for making wine, and that the French in that region would put the wine out 
in the winter and remove the ice to make a sort of plum brandy.  This plum 
brandy had a reputation for making men sterile, at least temporarily, so the 
French took care to give it to the German occupiers during WW2.     Donna