Picked last weekend on Gold Way or Melwood, near the shadow of the Bloomfield bridge. Just growing wild in the undergrowth at the edge of the alley there - tart, with a hint of red currant taste mixing with the raspberry flavor. I had never tasted them before, but we saw a woman picking them when we were out on our urban hike, and she called them wineberries. They were so good that we went back in the afternoon to pick more for ourselves.
Wineberries are delicious... but they're invasive... like kudzu. (I'm a native plant fanatic... so i'm always looking out for the invasive things!) This is a great drawing. I've been saying to my husband that it's hard to love these berries so much, cuz they seem to be taking over the world!
I'm not surprised to hear that they are invasive. They seemed to be holding their own against the ailanthus, the grapevines, the bittersweet, the honeysuckle, and the Japanese knotweed which are the chief invaders in our urban wilderness. This was near a steep slope under a highway bridge in an older neigborhood. I grow raspberries in my backyard, and they are invasive enough - but so delicious it's worthwhile keeping them around.