Xmas Tutti Fruti 2020 - Third Bottle (B5), 5th February 2022

Angie & Phil had an impromptu wine, cheese and games evening so we grabbed Blockus and this bottle of Xmas Tutti Fruti and walked the 200 metres to their house. It was a wonderful, drunken evening and the first time in an age that we stayed up past midnight. I am really quite poor at Blockus - and it is a vicious game with tactics I have yet to grasp. The wine went down nicely, with Phil and Angie having the lion's share. We (Claire and I) took the opportunity to drink more real wine than was sensible.

Taken on 30th Jan - I haven't any more recent!

Gooseberry Wine 2020 - Fifth Bottle (5), 20th November 2021

 Liz & David hosted an evening of pure jollity on Saturday. Phil, Angie, Claire and I all gathered there to eat Take-Out pizza and make merry. It has been a little while since I had such unadulterated fun and there was much laughter. Also much wine, of which this bottle of gooseberry was one. It really is a good wine, with a sweetened gooseberry taste. The postscript to this evening, though, is that on Wednesday Liz sent round a message to say that she has Covid. I hope to remain unaffected.

A current selection of the wine I have on the go.

Rhubarb, Elderflower & Mint 2020 - Second Bottle (5), 5th June 2021

The week has been a veritable social whirl: to York on Tuesday for Mom's 80th, Book Group on Friday (albeit virtual) and then a proper dinner party at Angie & Phil's on Saturday. Yes, we spent most of it outside, but that was because it was a lovely summer's evening rather than a Government Edict for the Protection of Society. It was a marvelous evening and felt so normal. Life will return to much as it used to be and we are on the first steps of that.

I took this wine at Liz's request and it is an excellent bottle. So much so that I may make a double batch this year.

Angie's recipe for Rhubarb & Custard Cake

Rhubarb Wine 2019 - Fifth Bottle (A6), 7th November 2020

Of course today's big news was the US election being called for Joe Biden - and the World suddenly feels like a better, safer place. I have been fascinated - unable to stay away from The Guardian live feed. We celebrated with a Manhattan (shared via Zoom with the Bentcliffe Massif) and then this bottle of rhubarb wine, which as always was a decent bottle.

The Snarkalong Film Club watched Dangerous Liaisons - the last third of which is a masterclass in acting, all about sexuality and power. The first two thirds, though, are just so cruel.

A Manhattan in our front room

Rose Petal & Orange Wine 2019 - First Bottle (5), 12th July 2020

When I bottled this wine earlier this week, Claire suggested that there were some wines for which I did not need to wait a year before drinking. This one, being delicious on bottling, was a prime example. I took it round to David & Liz's for a (garden) dinner party, and the wine was properly good: it was smooth, delicate (not something often said of my wines) and delightful. Everyone genuinely liked it - and none of Phil, Angie, David, Liz or Claire are shy of telling me when my wine is horrid.

It was a lovely evening, and only not-normal in that we all brought our own plates, glasses and eating implements, and we spent the entire time outdoors, which meant that the party was only broken up by the falling temperature.

Angie and Phil at the dinner party

If you want to see how I made this wine, click here.

Blackcurrant Wine 2018 - Tenth Bottle (B3), 2nd June 2020

We had the warmest, driest Spring experienced since 2018. Just before the weather turned, we had a Government Approved Social Gathering in our garden. Regulations say that you can now have meetings of up to 6 people remaining socially distant outside - and that is what we did. David, Liz, Angie and Phil all came round, pizzas were delivered and we got through rather more wine than is sensible for a Tuesday, including this bottle. It was a lovely, lovely evening.

Setting up our garden on 2nd June

Magnolia Petal Wine 2020 - The Making Of...

After last year's Magnolia Petal Wine was a surprising success, I decided to repeat it this year. 

St John the Baptist's Petals

Since the Great Covid 19 Lockdown of 2020 began, I have been going on hour-long walks early every weekday morning, and many of these have taken me past Angie and Phil's house. I noticed that their magnolia tree was not as prolific with its petals as last year, so on these long walks I have been trying to spot magnolia trees elsewhere. One of these was outside St Edmund's in Roundhay, where I surreptitiously gathered fallen petals (which remain in our freezer). Another was at St John the Baptist's Church in Adel, which was the halfway point of my 7-mile walk on Good Friday. This magnolia tree was of the 'small, delicate' petal variety which meant an age gathering enough to make it worthwhile. But I can think of worse ways to spend a sunny Bank Holiday.

Magnolia Petals outside Phil & Angie's

That evening, Angie came past our house on her run and stopped to tell me (at a safe distance!) that her tree was now discarding its petals and I was welcome to collect these at any point. This I did on Saturday morning, 11th April. I meant to make the wine that afternoon and evening, but instead Claire and I cut each other's hair (I am now completely bald!) and then she seduced me into drinking a bottle of champagne rather than make wine. Therefore, I have made wine this Easter morning whilst listening to Classic FM's Hall of Fame.

I measured 6 pints of petals and put these in my pan with the thinly peeled peel of two lemons and one orange. I poured in 7 pints of water and put this onto boil. When the water was getting close, I added 2lb 8 oz of sugar and once it reached the boil I let it do so for 20 minutes.

Petals that I used

I squeezed the orange and lemons and put the juice into my bucket along with 500g of minced sultanas (yes, I am mixing Imperial and Metric, for which I make no apologies). I then poured the contents of my pan (petals now brown and sludgy) over this and stirred it all around.

The mixture in its bucket

Later that night I put in the yeast and a teaspoon each of tannin, pectolase and nutrient. On Friday night, 17th April, whilst Claire was out processing Covid 19 samples, I put the wine into its demijohn. It is a murky beige.

 

An arty shot of the demijohn.

Having racked this on 7th June, I cannot tell whether it is going to be good or not. It has yet to clear properly. I fit 2 oz sugar and three-quarters a pint of water into the demijohn.

If you want to see how this wine turned out (and for a comedy photo!), click here.

Ginger Wine 2018 - Fourth Bottle (6), 29th December 2019

We had an impromptu pizza party last night. The occasion was 'Magnolia Petal Wine Bottling', to which I invited Phil and Angie as owners of the magnolia tree. Bottling a wine produces two glasses for immediate consumption so I knew something else would be required, and ginger wine is seasonal. Also it is one of my Good Ones - and Suitable For Guests. Claire made four delicious pizzas, and only three of us ended up with hot cheese and tomatoes down our clothes. It was a lovely evening: unplanned and laughter-filled.

Seven Swans a Swimming 

(and yes, I know that 29th December 

is not the seventh day of Christmas)

Elderberry Wine 2017 - Fifth Bottle (B4), 29th December 2019

Our second bottle of the evening, not counting the Negronis or the glass of Magnolia Petal wine. We did have company; Angie and Phil; so it isn't quite as shocking as it sounds. By the time this bottle was open we were full of pizza, more than a little tiddly and sitting in front of the fire. The wine was okay, but it is still too young to be thoroughly satisfying.

A photo I took on 29 December

Strawberry Wine 2017 - Fifth Bottle (1), 22nd December 2019

Sunday was a two party day. In the afternoon we went to Ilkley for 'Mendelssohn and Mince Pies', where Claire played in an octet and I played board games. Then in the evening we went to Phil and Angie's, where I took this bottle of strawberry wine. I sang carols at both. This year we were unable to go carolling around the neighbourhood due to new red-tape regulations about collecting money (we hadn't given the requisite 28-day notice) so stayed in and drank strawberry wine instead. It was a bottle universally enjoyed - as it should be!

Magnolia Petal Wine - The Making Of...

On Friday evening, 29th March, I posted a photo on Instagram of a magnolia tree in Horsforth Hall Park. [If you want to follow me on Instagram - my 'name' is @benswinemaking.] At this time of year (and I think particularly this year) magnolias are stunning. They are an attractively shaped tree anyway, with sparse branches at angles designed by architects, and their flowers are individual vases in delicate pink and cream. After posting my photo I received a comment from Lucy [@lajmmm] "Flowers are edible!". This, of course, made me wonder about turning them into wine.

I did a Google search, just to make sure that Lucy was not trying to poison me - she wasn't - and e-mailed Angie and Phil, who have a splendid magnolia tree in their front garden, to ask if I could collect their fallen petals.

Magnolia Petals on Angie and Phil's lawn

On Saturday morning I collected my first small bag of petals after biting into one - it had an odd but not unpleasant taste - took them home, put most of them into the freezer and made magnolia tea out of a couple. The tea had a subtle flavour, but again was not unpleasant. Therefore, I returned on Saturday afternoon, caught up with Angie and Phil's news and collected a larger bag - concentrating on the freshest, most recently dropped petals.

Back at home I followed my dandelion wine recipe entirely. I measured six pints of petals (those in the freezer turned brown on defrosting) and put them in our large pan with the thinly peeled peel of two lemons and an orange. I put in 2 lbs 12 oz of sugar and 7 pints or water, brought this to the boil (a long process) and let it simmer for 20 minutes. Meantime, I squeezed the lemons and orange and put the juice into my bucket with half a kilo of minced sultanas.

Me, looking pleased with my creation

When the magnolia mix had finished its 20 minutes simmer I poured all of it into the bucket. At this stage all the petals had gone brown and the wine looked unappetising (for which, read 'like vile dishwater'). I'm not certain about the smell either (though as the week has gone on, this became more floral with an element of spice, which makes me hopeful about the end result).

Vile dishwater, or something rather exotic?

I added a teaspoon each of yeast, nutrient, pectolase and tannin on Sunday morning, 31st March. On Thursday evening I put the liquid into its demijohn, sieving out all the solids. One might expect Magnolia Petal Wine to be white with a hint of pink. I can report that it is a rather nasty brown. This, however, will be a temporary state of affairs and it will (honestly) clear to a golden yellow.

This will clear to a golden yellow

If you want to see how this wine turned out (and if I was lying about it clearing to a golden yellow), click here.