Hedgerow Wine - Final Bottle (6), 29th July 2012

There is something about Brahms that requires a bottle of red wine. I think it is his dark, brooding harmonies and complex rhythms. There is also something about struggling unsuccessfully to play his third symphony that requires a bottle of red wine. I think it is the sense of frustrated failure.

We are at Rydal Hall and this is the first of three bottles of homebrew that I have opened. Though I drank about half of it myself, I thrust a taster onto as many people as I could. And everyone said they thought it was good. I recognise that this was not a scientifically controlled test. It is a good bottle, though, with a complex fruit flavour and sufficient body. The fizziness is a little disconcerting, but does not take much getting used to. It is a shame, therefore, that this is the last bottle of its kind.