Xmas Tutti Fruti 2016 - Eighth Bottle (A1), 25th-26th December 2018

Looking back on my description of this vintage's first bottle, I think that Xmas Tutti Fruti 2016 has matured splendidly. This wine was better than the 2017 variety, and that was decent in itself.

We waited until the food was on the table before opening this bottle, and what a splendid meal it was. Judith was the chief cook with Andrew and Claire playing the role of sous-chef. It was, of course, the traditional Christmas meal and there was barely enough room on the table for our plates. By Boxing Day we had eaten less than half, so had it all again and this time finished the wine.

Xmas Tutti Fruti - First Bottle (A5), 25th December 2018

After a couple of Christmas Day cocktails (only one of which involved a Brussel Sprout garnish) I opened my first bottle of 2017's Xmas Tutti Fruti, serving it between all Taylors and me. I am pleased with this vintage. Whilst it does not reach the heady heights of 2014, it is still rather good. There is a slight fizz and it is both dry and fruity. On occasion, Tutti Fruti can be thin, but that is not apparent in this bottle. By the time we sat down to eat, this wine was a distant memory.

Rose Petal Wine - Third Bottle (A6), 21st December 2018

Blimey, that was a busy day! The sort of day that by the end of it only a take-out pizza and a bottle of rose petal wine will do. It being the last working day of the year, I had 15 house-completions, plus finalising a complicated land deal in Otley. It became apparent at about 6 p.m. that this was not going to happen, so I wished the two remaining people in the office a Merry Christmas and drove home, somewhat dazed by events.

The rose petal wine was less rose-y than usual, which made for a more rounded drink. It certainly slipped down nicely.

Prune & Parsnip Wine - Seventh Bottle (A4), 13th December 2018

I am not allowed to be ill, and therefore I am not ill. This sore throat and heavy cold are, at most, feeling not quite 100%. I must survive on adrenaline and will-power to keep me going until at least 21st December.

Work has been extraordinarily busy this week and will be more-so next. A whole bottle on Thursday evening, therefore, was medicinal. In fact, this prune & parsnip tasted different than usual - though Claire did not think so. I suspect that this not-illness is playing with my taste-buds. More research is needed.

Apple Wine - Third Bottle (3), 8th December 2018

Seeing as my parents could not come to the Wine Party, on account of Pop's slipped disc, I decided to take one of my better bottles to York with me. Guessing correctly that we would be having fish, I chose Apple. Pop, though, was mostly drinking beer and Mom really only drinks gin these days (not in the quantities that suggests). They both tried the apple wine, possibly to humour me, but both said they enjoyed it.

As ever, when staying over with the parents, we had a lovely, relaxed evening, full of conversation.

Orange Wine - Seventh Bottle (B2), 6th December 2018

Claire and I both stayed late at work on Thursday evening. This is not an unusual state of affairs for Claire . For me, though, working until seven is a rare event indeed. Mostly it is down to the time of year - the run up to Christmas is ghastly for a property lawyer. Anyway, this meant that a full bottle of wine was inevitable. I chose orange to go with a camembert and tarragon risotto - the food was superb and the wine went down very nicely. Finishing the bottle took no effort whatsoever.

Xmas Tutti Fruti - Seventh Bottle (B6), 2nd December 2018

I needed Sunday. Whilst the previous week at work had been a busy one, Saturday was manic. It was the WYSO concert (Siegfried Idyll, Mendelssohn's Piano Concert No. 1 and Beethoven 6) and when I wasn't playing, I was organising things (keys, gifts for the soloist, rearranging the church, tea and coffee). The concert went brilliantly and we drank a bottle of real wine to celebrate. Consequently, Sunday was quiet and restful. I finished by book (The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner - excellent), did crosswords and ordered roses for the garden. Oh, and drank a bottle of Christmas Tutti Fruti, which is one of my better batches - as fruity as the name implies.

Blackberry Wine - Fifth Bottle (C3), 25th November 2018

Ros was not able to make the Wine Party, or the day afterwards, during which we started hoovering up the dregs that remained. However, she came over on Sunday night because we have not caught up properly with her for an age. Claire cooked many delicious curries and I opened the winner of last week's party (after we had drunk a bottle of the real stuff) and a good time was had by all. Strangely, Ros refused my offer to serve her a small glass of each of the four remaining wines - which are the four that came last.

The vessel with the pestle...

Zucchini Wine - Second Bottle (4), 17th November 2018

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Zucchini Wine lost the Wine Party. Out of sixteen bottles it came sixteenth and received an average score of 0.17 out of 5. I don't think I have ever had such an unpopular wine. Some mad fool awarded it a 2, but otherwise it had a mix of 0s and -1s. Actually, Lindsay gave it a quarter of a point for being liquid. Elsewhere I got "Horrid", "What a shocker", "Bleuurk", an unsmiley face and "Smells like perm solution". I have literally no idea how to get rid of the remaining four bottles.

Z is for Zero.

People's reaction when I offer them a glass of Zucchini Wine

Whitecurrant Wine - Final Bottle (3), 17th November 2018

This bottle did not even reach an average score of 1 at my Wine Party. It got 0.48, and my specific instructions were to rate each bottle 1-5. Whitecurrant wine, though, did not come last. I see from previous posts about Whitecurrant that I opened a bottle for my Wine Party in 2014, and this proves that Whitecurrant wine is one best drunk young.

One person (and I do not know who) wrote "Startling! Kerosene, Creosote, Vinegar" and awarded it a 0. Sooz could not even bring herself to rate it and wrote "The death of angels."

W is for Worst (but for Zucchini)