Christmas Tutti Fruti 2012 - The Making Of

It is a dank Tuesday evening, 18th December, and I am yet to be gripped by seasonal cheer. This probably has something to do with the fact that we are about to set off for our Sainsbury's Christmas Shop, and I imagine this will be hellish. However, I have done no present buying yet (unless one counts ordering a couple of CDs on line) and my cards remain unwritten. Bah! as they say. And, indeed, Humbug. Making Christmas Tutti Fruti may improve things and I have timed it so that the liquid will go into its demijohns during the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.

The fruit in the freezer this year has been mostly of the 'white wine' variety, with a large percentage being gooseberries. This will make the end result rather different from previous years. I have put in 8 lb, 7 oz fruit, and in alphabetical order this is: apples (11 oz), blackberries (11 oz), blueberries (½ oz), crab apples (5 oz), elderberries (14 oz), gooseberries - green (1 lb, 2¾ oz), gooseberries - red (2 lb, 6½ oz), quince (5 oz), rhubarb (11½ oz), rosehips (¾ oz), sloes (12½ oz), strawberries (6 oz) and tomatoes - green (½ oz). Oh, and a satsuma.

I removed all this (except the satsuma) from the freezer on Monday night and put it in the bucket to defrost. It has been mashed tonight and I have poured in 5lb 12 oz sugar and 12 pints of boiling water. I put in the yeast and a teaspoon each of nutrient and pectolase on Wednesday, 19th December, and by Friday I was worried that the yeast was a dud batch. The usual frothiness was noticeably absent. However, by Saturday it was clear the wine was fermenting.

I did manage to time the stage where I sieve out the fruit and put the liquid into the demijohn with the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols - Once in Royal David's City was playing as I dipped the jug into the bucket for the first time. The wine is a satisfying light burgundy colour and I could probably have used a pint less liquid.