Blackberry Wine 2019 - The Making Of...

Last year I learnt that sometimes Blackberry Wine is not exclusively to be made in September. I do not plan to make that mistake twice.

Fruit has generally been early to ripen this year, so Claire and I first visited York Victorian Cemetery to inspect blackberries on Sunday 11 August. Whilst it was clear that blackberry season had only just begun, the berries that were ready were the largest, most luscious blackberries that I have encountered. After only about half an hour's foraging we had more than 3 lbs between us.

The following Sunday we were in York again, making sure that Pop was alright in Mom's absence now Keith and Jaki had returned up north. He was fine and all three of us went to the cemetery to gather blackberries. This time we got nearly 7 lbs. For a triple batch I need 12 lbs of blackberries, so we went a third time on 25th August, making it a hat-trick of weekends in York - this time the excuse was to see Mom, freshly back from her 60th High School Reunion in Nebraska. It was a hot day and Pop and I went to the cemetery ourselves to finish the job. This was idyllic - the sun beat down and the place was full of birdsong. I had a lovely hour with my father, chatting about this and that, discussing blackberries and getting nettle-stung.

My father, picking blackberries

(I love this photo of him)

The graves I must mention are (as always) Thomas Douthwaite - though his patch is so overgrown you can no longer see his grave -; Margaret Ann, Corporal W and John Doughty Pratt; Dorothy and John William Dobson; George Carlill (a slater); and Walter & Annabel Chambers. Claire picked from Dorothy Akers, who was only 9 when she died, and possibly Fanny Taylor, the beloved wife of Alfred Watson (solicitor of this town).

On Monday morning, 26th August, I mashed the blackberries and added 8 lbs sugar and 16 pints of boiling water. This cooled over the (hot and humid) day and I added a teaspoon each of yeast and pectolase, and two teaspoons of nutrient that evening. By Saturday night, 31st August, the liquid was ready for the demijohns. This went without a hitch and I now have three demijohns full of potentially delicious blackberry wine.

If you want to see how this wine turned out, click here.

Blackberry Wine - Sixth Bottle (C5), 29th December 2018

We have done the Taylors and now it is the turn of the Hardys. Christmas really is an opportunity to see as many people in as short a time as possible. Our visit to York has coincided with Chris, Rachael, Paul and Myles being here - and I saw Keith and family on the 27th. It has been fabulous to catch up with everyone and I had not seen Chris since early June.

Myles is squarely into his dinosaur phase and three quarters of his presents - socks, books, toys, Bingo - were dinosaur related.

There was plenty of booze in the evening and I contributed this bottle of blackberry. It was rather better than the Parma-Violet flavoured gin on offer.

Elderberry Wine - Fifth Bottle (B1), 19th-20th August 2018

With only a 'Bread Sauce Master Class' from Claire to help me, I did a whole roast dinner yesterday: chicken, roast spuds, onion gravy, bread sauce and strangely shaped cauliflower. The unexpected thing was actually how easy it all was (if time consuming). Keith, Jaki and Ellis turned up during the beginning stages of the onion gravy - they were passing and dropped by. It was lovely to see them. Oh - the wine. It was elderberry and good. (Sufficient description?)

Elderberry Wine - Third Bottle (A2), 1st April 2018

Judith cooked an enormous slab of beef for our Easter lunch, and I opened a bottle of elderberry wine to go with it. The food was superb and the wine was passable. This is not my best vintage of elderberry. Andrew's adjective of choice was 'frunty' and I have no idea whether that is a compliment or not.

The weekend was excellent, starting with a lovely visit with Keith and family (we taught Ellis how to play 'Cheat'), going round Craster to buy kippers, watch the waves crash against the pier and get thoroughly cold walking much of the way to Dunstanburgh Castle, and finishing the Guardian cryptic double crossword.

Rose Petal Wine - Eighth Bottle (C3), 30th March 2018

Bob & Judith's boiler has packed up - so this was an ideal time to visit them for a weekend. We took plenty of clothes and decided that washing would be an unnecessary luxury. In the evening, after visiting Keith, Jaki and Ellis (who I hadn't seen since June, which is far, far too long) I opened a bottle of rose petal wine. It was the only bottle we drank between the four of us, which is unusual, but it was a good one. Chilled, of course.

Prune & Parsnip Wine - Eighth Bottle (A3), 29th September 2017

I hadn't meant to open this bottle, but it was clear that once the elderberry was empty something further was required. And we are officially on holiday (Corfu on Sunday!) so there is excuse enough.

Rachael, Paul and Myles were here to help us share the wine (well, not Myles - he's four) and of the three bottles, this was Rachael's least favourite - too sherry-like. We discussed the Hardy method of washing up and how Rachael and I are both excellent at balancing clean dishes to dry. I wonder if Chris and Keith at both similarly good.

Blackberry Wine 2017 - The Making Of...

I heard rumours of ripe blackberries as July became August. For the last few weeks I have been aware of bramble clusters turning black and juicy. Blackberry, though, is a September wine so I have resisted foraging until today, Sunday 3rd September. This has also allowed me to spend time with my parents, who are only just returned from Mexico.

Mom and Claire foraging

As always, I went picking blackberries in York Victorian Cemetery, taking Mom and Claire with me. Usually we split up when picking and meet back at the car at a prearranged time. Today we picked together - I wanted to hear all about Mom's time in Nebraska, how the uncles were and whether Keith and family had a good time over there. Picking blackberries was the ideal time to hear all the news and it made ninety minutes pass quickly. At the end of this our hands were sticky with blackberry juice, our arms were covered in nettle stings and bramble scratches, and between us we had picked 13 lbs 3 oz (Claire, as always, was the winner).

I made sure some fruit came from Thomas Douthwaite's grave, and otherwise I made a note of Albert Dowsett, John Hardy Ellis (all good family names), Fred Dealtry and the delightfully named Vera Higginbottom. I will raise a glass to all when the time comes.

Our haul

Back at home I measured 12 lbs blackberries, putting the excess into the freezer, and mashed these in my bucket. This was a quick and easy job because the fruit was so ripe. I added 7 lbs 12 oz sugar (it may need more on racking) and 15 pints of boiling water (I should have added at least 16 - see below). The yeast, two teaspoons of nutrient and what was left in my tub of pectolase (more than a teaspoon) went in on Monday morning.

The blackberry pulp floating at the top of the wine

On Friday evening, 8th September, it was Book Group (The Trouble with Sheep and Goats, which got mixed reviews) so I did my best to be efficient in getting the wine into its three demijohns. Including sterilising everything, it took me somewhat less than an hour. Taking out the bulk of the floating fruit detritus with a colander helped. I stored the discarded pulp in a large plastic bowl (also sterilised) and this was a Good Thing. There was at least a pint too little liquid, and I pressed the pulp to extract all additional wine I could. The demijohns are still not full, but it is close, and they are all bubbling away enthusiastically.

If you want to see how this wine turned out, click here.

Prune & Parsnip Wine - Seventh Bottle (B6), 20th-23rd October 2016

We needed to drink something rather better than the Vanilla Wine just finished on Thursday night. Pretty much any bottle would have done, but I pulled out a 'Prune & Parsnip' from under the stairs. We were officially 'on holiday', having taken Friday off work to go to Keith & Jaki's renewal of their marriage vows, so opening a second bottle on a Thursday night wasn't that scandalous. And in comparison to Vanilla, it is Nectar of the Gods.

We finished the bottle tonight, Sunday, while watching Sandi Toksvig's first episode of presenting QI. She is rather good and Stephen Fry will be less missed than I had imagined.

Strawberry Wine - First Bottle (1), 2nd-3rd July 2016

Whilst I definitely had at least a glass of this wine, I am struggling to remember how it tasted. This suggests that it was far from awful and I suspect it was rather good. It was one of the first bottles finished at our house-warming party. The event was a success, with more people coming on Saturday than Sunday. Keith and Ellis showed up on Saturday and it was lovely to see them. Keith was a little subdued but Ellis was, of course, centre of attention - filling every room he was in and charming all our guests. He claims he was being chased by Gina's two girls, but I saw little evidence of that.

Christmas Tutti Fruti - Final Bottle (A2), 25th December 2013

Keith and family are in York for Christmas, resulting in a chaotic, charming day. Unusually for Christmas at the Hardys there have been no tears or raised voices, and I may not wait a decade until I brave it again.

We had the full turkey works for Christmas dinner, allowing Claire to have her annual sprout and pull her 'This is nasty' face (which sometimes appears when drinking my wine).

This final bottle of Christmas Tutti Fruti was very much the same as its predecessors: fizzy, dry, not as interesting as I had once hoped. But seeing as it was Christmas Day, we had a tradition to keep up and therefore not only a duty to finish this bottle, but finish the first bottle of Christmas Tutti Fruti 2012. Oh, the hardship.

Blackberry Wine - First Bottle (A6), 31st August 2013

What a splendid evening, and in fact what a splendid day. We have spent it in York, mostly picking blackberries for the 2013 vintage of this wine. I had not expected Keith and family to be here, but they arrived shortly before we left for the cemetery. It has been far, far too long since we have seen them - November last year - and Ellis was initially scared of me. But he was soon showing me his hoola-hooping skills and chatting merrily away.

We all sat around the dining table in the evening, eating a bring-round curry and making lots of noise.

The wine was good - drier than previous years, with a slight fizz and possibly not as alcoholic. But, as I say, the day was splendid.

*

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

Blackberry Wine 2013 - The Making Of ...

It is Blackberry time of year again. I have been watching them ripen on my daily walk to work over the past few weeks. Whilst there is about a month of picking left, this weekend straddling August and September was the most convenient for us. Pop was keen to help out but was busy Sunday (our traditional day of picking blackberries), so we went to York Victorian Cemetery on Saturday afternoon, 31st August, with baskets and plastic bags. Keith and family were also visiting, so came along. I didn't see Keith, Jaki or Ellis once we got to the grave yard, but based on the blackberry-coloured smears round Ellis's mouth it looks like he enjoyed himself.

I forgot my camera. This is a photo from a Google search

Before Pop and Kai arrived I struck up conversation with an old man who was also picking blackberries for wine. We met at the grave of Robert Burton (1830-1904), whose fruit was particularly lush, and swapped notes. Other graves providing blackberries included Walter Rymer, Amos Howe Harris, Walter John Underwood and Eliza Jane Dunkley. We will drink a toast to them when the time comes.

Claire picked 6 lbs 4 oz blackberries, I picked 6 lbs 1½ oz (with help from Pop and Kai) and Mom got about 2 lbs. This was plent for the 12 lbs of fruit needed for a triple batch, with a manageable quantity for the freezer.

Blackberries picked by Claire

I started the wine on 1st September. Weighing the fruit is a messy job and produces hands that Lady MacBeth would find distasteful. I did not wash the blackberries, though I picked out the mouldy ones and got rid of as many grubs as I found.

All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand

I crushed the fruit in its bucket and poured over 15 ½ pints of boiling water. Later that evening I added 7 ½ lbs sugar, and the next morning I put in the yeast (burgundy) and two teaspoons each of nutrient and pectolase.

The blackberries before crushing

On Thursday night, later than I had wanted - mostly due to a large pile of washing up - I transferred this all into three demijohns. For some reason blackberry wine takes the longest of any wine at this stage, and Claire had to remind me that I was enjoying myself. I have left a little space at the top of each demijohn as the fermentation is at the assertive stage and I have kept some wine back in a bottle for topping-up purposes.

If you want to see how this wine turned out, click here (and see me get a drenching)

When will we three meet again?

Tea Wine - Fifth Bottle (4), 31st October - 6th November 2012

Tea wine seems to be one of those bottles that is not finished with any haste. This took a week to drink. That suggests some reluctance on the part of the drinkers. It was an eventful bottle, however. On its first night I went to play wind quintets in a house where the resident 16 year old was having a Halloween party. All I can say is that there was some competition for noisiest grouping, and having a trainee paramedic playing French Horn proved to be a Good Thing.

The next night's glass was drunk after a long drive, before which we had been celebrating Ellis's second birthday. He is a charming toddler and never walks but runs, in the way two year olds do.

The rest of the bottle was unexceptional.

Bonfire Wine - First Bottle, 5th November 2011

This bottle of wine was doubly appropriate. We drank it both on Bonfire Night and on the occasion of Ellis's first birthday celebration. I had a 190 mile round trip to the party, so could only drink half a glass, but that half glass was marvelous. It is a dry, fizzy red wine with many flavours including a strong taste of chilli with just a hint of heat. The assembled guests, of whom there were several, all said they enjoyed it too (though, curiously, I did not see any having a second glass).

Keith, Lee and Robert ushered us into the garden and set off a gazillion fire works which fizzed and hissed and banged and exploded into an array of colours, leaving the air thick with smoke. It was a lovely day and evening, and the best part of it was seeing Keith and his family so happy and settled.