Elderberry Wine 2018 - Fifth Bottle (A4), 24th January 2021

Claire still thinks that this elderberry is a little young. I'm not certain that I agree. There is a hint of fizz, which is never that positive an attribute in red wine. 

A panorama from my walk

Sunday was a fabulous day, despite an under-par bottle of elderberry. I had a frosty 8 mile walk (bumping into Zoe), made a Victoria Sponge (I have decided that I now make cakes), played Scrabble with my mother, ate sausages, finished the bread & butter pudding, watched The Crown and had an hour's call with Paul.

Bumping into Zoe

Xmas Tutti Fruti 2018 - Sixth Bottle (B6), 17th July 2020

Ian Ward has died. I heard from Paul on Monday that he was dangerously ill, and by Friday he was dead. It wasn't Covid 19 and I'm not quite clear what it was. Paul, being in Canada, cannot come over without quarantining for a fortnight. It is a miserable position to be in. And I am hugely sad at Ian's loss - he was a fine and good man - so much more than my best friend's dad. We opened this bottle and toasted Ian from the glasses given to us by Paul and Allie for our wedding.

An Edwardian Post Box taken on 17 July

Elderberry Wine 2018 - Second Bottle (A3), 19th July 2020

This elderberry wine is still too young. It retains a vaguely metallic taste and has yet to attain a proper depth. It is drinkable, nonetheless, and we did not struggle to finish the bottle.

The day's most notable feature was a long conversation with Paul. I don't think that I have spoken to him for about six years, but we carried on as if it was only yesterday. The circumstances - Ian's death - were tragic, but Paul was philosophical and surprisingly good humoured. He can't get to the funeral, of course, but will come to a future memorial service.

The years fell away as we spoke - as if we were still teenagers, still sitting next to each other in Maths. He (along with Bridget) is the best friend that I have ever had.

Taken on 19 July

Rhubarb & Elderflower Wine - Second Bottle (1), 12th August 2013

"Rather better than I had anticipated" is a common reaction to my wine.

I took this bottle to the Wands as Paul and family are over from Canada and Helen promised chocolate cake. Because I was driving I only had a small glass, but I made sure I had the first glass so I could manage expectations. Happily, this is a good bottle, and it looks delightful  - pink and bubbly. I think the Wands were genuinely impressed.

It was a lovely evening, and very noisy. Paul and Allie have four rambunctious children. Alexander and Ellie wanted to be around the adults. Adam and Alice did not. Alex is two years older than I was when I met Paul, which is hard to believe. I see a fair amount of Paul in him - not so much in looks, but in humour and interests. Just slightly geeky but with social grace too.

Rose Petal Wine 2013 - The Making Of ...

Ordinarily I get to December and worry that I have made too much wine. This year that thought has struck in July. I did not intend to make a double batch of Rose Petal Wine. It just sort of happened.

My father had strict instructions to collect withering petals and freeze them while Mom was in Nebraska. Meanwhile, I harvested roses from our garden - mostly white, but two blooms from the red. We both overperformed and each collected enough for a single batch. It would have been a tragedy to see all these petals go onto the compost heap, so I have made a double.

I collected the York rose petals today, 21st July, having spent some of the weekend there before Rachael, Paul and Myles move to Leicester. Have I mentioned how adorable Myles is? He is now 6 months old, and gurgles away happily.

Anyway, back home I measured eight pints of petals and put them in my bucket. I covered these with 2 litres of grape juice, 5 pounds of sugar and eleven pints of boiling water. Thanks to Joanne, who left me a comment on an earlier post, I have found proper white grape juice at Aldi. Rejoice.

The recipe calls for two lemons, but I didn't have any, so I squeezed the juice of two oranges instead and added that.

On Monday morning I added the yeast, two teaspoons of nutrient and a teaspoon each of pectolase and tannin. This all sat around smelling lovely for five days, until I put it into its demijohns on Friday 26th July. I'm sure it smells no less fragrant, but the airlock means I cannot tell. The recipe could have used another pint of water. However, I did spill a bit, as the wine bounced off the rose petals collecting in my sieve. I love the colour, which is a dark, dusky pink.

If you want to see how the first bottle of this wine tasted, click here

Orange Wine - Eighth Bottle (A5), 11-12th October 2012

Finishing the orange wine tonight was not the best of ideas. There was two-thirds of a bottle left and we had already drunk a bottle of champagne. Consequently I am currently feeling woozy. And woozy is a fabulous word.

The champagne was a gift from Darren for basically doing my job. He is an excellent boss. But a bottle of bubbly was not quite enough for a Friday night and somehow we have polished off the orange wine. Damn.

I started the bottle with a phone call providing legal advice to Paul - Bridget's husband (as opposed to the Canadian version) - about leasehold law. Alcohol and legal advice is a winning combination. Having only had once glass though, I think what I said was mostly accurate. Good job he didn't ring tonight.

Christmas Tutti Fruti - Ninth Bottle (B1), 28th September 2012

I have just Skyped. This is my first time ever and shows that I can do the twenty-first century if I really put my mind to it. I have bought a new laptop at great expense, having got entirely fed up with the 2005 model taking whole eras to boot up, freezing at inopportune moments and stuttering badly on i-player. This one has a built in webcam and microphone, and I have just talked to Paul and family in Canada. Science fiction suggested this in my childhood and now it is real life. Oh Brave New World.

It being a Friday night I am, of course, more than half a bottle down, and as usual, this Christmas Tutti Fruti is fabulous. Complex in taste and just the thing for new experiences.

Me and my new web cam

Elderflower Wine - Bottle B1, 11th-13th August 2011

I tried to convince Claire that we should drink beer on Thursday - I still have my birthday bottle of Lavender Beer - but she was having none of it. Most of the bottle, though, was drunk on Saturday following an afternoon with Paul and his parents.

I had not seen Paul for two years - the longest I have gone without seeing him since I sat next to him in a Maths lesson when I was twelve. It is reassuring and comforting that I can immediately click back into the solid friendship that has been there for twenty nine years, yet it seems impossible that it could be that long. Whilst not quite yesterday, surely it was only a few weeks ago that we were teenagers interrailing around Europe?

It was a lovely afternoon, only marred by an irritating trip to Sainsbury's on our way home. Why do I get stuck behind people who quibble about cereal? This was made better by a tube of salt & vinegar Pringles and the remainder of the elderflower wine.