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This blog is a record of the wine that I make and drink. Each flavour made and each bottle drunk will appear here. You may come to the conclusion that, on the whole, I should be drinking less.

Friday 18 November 2011

Pumpkin - Bottle 6, 7th-13th November 2011

Pumpkin wine gets no better the longer one leaves it. This was just as disgusting as all other bottles.

I opened it at BBC Radio Leeds, on air, for a live tasting event. It was an example of my worst wine, and I could not have chosen better. The interviewer declared it 'foul' which pleased me mightily. He told me to serve blackberry instead for Saturday's book launch. Of course, I served both, along with many other flavours and dared the attendees to sample the Pumpkin. I think most refused, judging by how much is still left in the bottle (destination: down the sink) but some were brave souls. Apparently Lindsay was the least taken with it, pulling all manner of faces.

I did not drink any at the book launch, but had my obligatory taste (a glass would have been pure masochism) on Sunday night after returning from a fabulous Airedale Symphony Orchestra concert. We played Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony, and my adrenalin was up. Pumpkin wine did not take it down any - so I had a mug of bush tea and a slice of Judith's fruit cake instead.
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4 comments:

  1. northsider 19 November 2011 at 08:53

    Hi Ben. I have started drinking 'hot' cider punches instead of the cold 'Murphy's' stout. Do you have any hot punch recipes and how strong is your wine?

    Thanks!!

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  2. Ben Hardy19 November 2011 at 10:21

    I don't really have any hot punch recipes. If a wine turns evil, I tend to try mulling it. Spices can hide a multitude of sins.

    My wine tends to be between 12 and 15%, so quite strong without being outrageously so.

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  3. jmclauss22 November 2011 at 00:25

    Ben - How many batches of pumpkin wine have you made? I guess what I am asking is: is this just an unfortunate incident, or is all pumpkin wine to be avoided? I have a lovely pumpkin and I was thinking of making wine out of it, but, having read your blog, I am thinking of pie, perhaps . .

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  4. Ben Hardy22 November 2011 at 13:09

    Hello Joan - I have only made the one batch of pumpkin wine, and won't be doing it again. Pie is far, far nicer. However, Jack Keller has told me that I should not try to dissuade people from making wine based on my experiences. So, try experimenting if you wish (but don't say I didn't warn you!). If you do try pumpkin wine, don't use the method where you leave sugar over the pumpkin pieces for days before adding any water. This is how I made my batch, and it started fermenting without yeast and smelled foul. Let me know how you get on. And Happy Thanksgiving for Thursday.

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