Blackberry Wine 2018 - Eighth Bottle (A2), 11th July 2020

I had enough wine to stun a horse on Saturday. Going for lunch with Rodney will do that. Though restaurants are newly open again, we went for the less risky option and ate fish and chips round his house - with the condiments mostly being red wine. It was a lovely, drunken afternoon, but not one to do on a regular basis.

In the evening I opened this bottle (for Claire's sake, you understand) but still had a glass and a half myself. We watched Singin' in the Rain as a Snarkalong Film Club. It remains my favourite ever movie.

Taken on 11 July - some allotments

Gooseberry Wine 2020 - The Making Of...

On Saturday morning, 11th July, while chatting to Claire in the front garden, I glanced at our gooseberry bushes and noticed two things: one of the bushes, at least, was laden; and some of the gooseberries had started to split. This meant that they needed to be harvested, and they needed to be harvested Now. I grabbed a plastic bowl from the kitchen and set to work, getting only mildly scratched in the process.

One of our bushes, though small, produced three pounds. The rest, added together, gave a further four and a half pounds - and one of our bushes (the one which I suspect is popular with an audience of pigeons) only had two. That's two gooseberries, not two pounds. My harvesting activities were interrupted by a lunch spent with Rodney, meaning that I was somewhat less focussed and efficient during the second session.

Once the gooseberries had been picked, we needed to decide what to do with them. Ordinarily I use 6 lbs for wine, but Claire made a good case for wanting to make gooseberry tart and gooseberry jam and gooseberry other-stuff. However, our freezer is already too full to store that weight of fruit. So, I checked my recipe books and Brian Leverett has a recipe using only 4 lbs, which is a good compromise. In fact I used half a pound more than this, put them in a pan, covered them with 3½ pints of water and brought them to the boil, giving them about 5 minutes of boiling time. This broke down the fruit, so I didn't need to mash them.

I put the boiled gooseberries and liquid into my bucket, poured over a further 2½ pints of (cold) water and 2 lbs 14 oz of sugar. When cool enough, I added a teaspoon each of nutrient, pectolase and tannin.

A vigorous ferment

Over the next few days I stirred the wine, if I remembered, and then on Friday 17th July I put the wine into its demijohn. This took longer than ideal: the sieve kept clogging, so getting the liquid through was a slow process. The wine is fermenting vigorously, and I anticipate a large sediment.

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

Xmas Tutti Fruti 2015 - Tenth Bottle (B5), 7th-8th April 2018

On Saturday night, I allowed myself only a sip of wine. This was because on Saturday afternoon I allowed myself a whole bottle. The bottle was an Italian red and the sip was Tutti Fruti. The bottle was better. I had been out for lunch with Rodney, and that always involves too much to drink.

We finished the Tutti Fruti on Sunday after a whole day of learning how to make lithographic prints using tin foil and coca cola. I hadn't been to an art lesson since I was 14 and it was surprisingly enjoyable. Claire concentrated on blood cells for her design, whereas my most successful involved rhubarb wine.

My lithograph

The image I worked from (but in mirror image)

Jasmine Tea Wine - The Making Of...

14 Februrary 2021 - Update. Loads of people are looking at this post today. Can someone drop me a comment to explain why? Thanks!

For several years I have been thinking about the letter J for my wine alphabet. I had rejected 'Jam' as a cheat, though there is a recipe and we have many jars of ancient and random jam in our attic. Jack-fruit comes in tins, is fibrous and has an odd, meaty texture. Much as I would like to turn Jerusalem Artichokes into wine, I don't think we are growing them in sufficient quantity. The solution presented itself at my wine party last week. Rodney suggested Jasmine flowers, which would be expensive and difficult to obtain. Liz refined this to Jasmine Tea, which is sold in Sainsbury's and works out at 10p a bag.

The ingredients, plus a gate-crashing orange

On checking my diary for Tea Wine, I noticed that I had written "Never make this wine again", or words to that effect. Advice is there to be ignored. Anyway, that was black tea, and this is Jasmine Green Tea, so it is bound to be different. I remember that my previous tea wine had too much flavour - it was cloying, strong and too sweet - so I have cut down the quantities of most ingredients.

Measuring the tea

It being the end of October and with me not having made any wine so far this month, I started the wine this morning, 29th October. This time I have used 1¼ oz of tea (which was 15 tea bags, ripped open and shaken out), 3 oranges (just the juice), 1 lb minced sultanas and 2½ lbs of sugar. I boiled 2½ pints of water and poured this over the tea in my bucket. This brewed while I squeezed the oranges and minced the sultanas (in the food processor). I put these in the bucket, added the sugar and then poured in another 5½ pints of boiling water. I can't imagine that adding the water in two stages will have made any difference, but this is what I did last time (and that was obviously such a success).

Stirring the tea

When I came to put in the fermenting aids on Sunday evening, I found my wine-making tin bereft of yeast. A quick Facebook message to Liz and a saunter down Bentcliffe Drive saw me returning with her tub. I added a teaspoon plus nutrient and pectolase. The wine went into my demijohn on Thursday evening, 2nd November. Currently its colour is an unattractive greeny-beige, and I fear this will taste awful. But now, at least, the alphabet is complete!

The end of the alphabet

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

Peach & Banana Wine - Fifth Bottle (6), 21st October 2017

This is awful news. I thought that with this bottle we had completed our Peach & Banana journey into darkness. But there is still a bottle left, lurking somewhere under the stairs.

I used the Wine Party as an excuse to get rid of this bottle. Curiously, though, it has improved beyond nearly undrinkable. In fact Lindsay and Matthew both gave it a 4.5 and its overall average was 2.39. It did not come bottom of the pile. Rodney's face, though, was a picture as he took his first sip. It was the epitome of disgust. He scored it a zero.

Ginger Wine - Fifth Bottle (1), 21st October 2017

Without Liz's score of 1 (with no comment) and Anthony's score of 0 ("Too much ginger") this wine would have done well at the Wine Party. Everyone else scored it between 3 and 4.5. With those scores, though, it came sixth of 12 with an average score of 3.39. It was Rodney's favourite, and he knows a thing or two about wine. Matthew wrote that it was like being hugged by a cactus and awarded it a 4.

To some extent I'm vaguely surprised that anyone came to the party. Storm Brian meant that it was such a filthy night that even stepping outside to fetch my white wines (which had been cooling due to no room in the fridge) meant I got an absolute drenching - despite wearing full waterproofs.

Rose Petal Wine - Fifth Bottle (C4), 21st October 2017

We are definitely into the 'Also Rans' at the Wine Party. Rose Petal came a disappointing fifth out of 12 with an average score of 3.41. I think Jayne skewered the results by awarding it a zero and throwing her glass down the sink. Three people gave it top marks and that is more than one of the joint winners. Rodney thought is bitter and Duncan, having been versed in teenage lingo by Daisy (the youngest guest at 16) wrote "Proper bum". Which is a good thing. Apparently.

Elderflower, Rhubarb & Mint Wine - Third Bottle (4), 2nd-3rd September 2017

I needed no wine on Saturday evening. Lunchtime was spent with Rodney in the Olive Branch. Between the two of us we polished off two bottles of an Italian red. I do like going for lunch with Rodney.

Claire asked what flavour she could have with our meal of quiche and spicy beet tops and I told her to take her pick. Naturally she chose the best.

We finished the bottle between us tonight. It is a fabulous wine; there is a complex yet refreshing taste where no single flavour is prominent. I can tell that the remaining three bottles will not be collecting much dust.

Orange Wine - Tenth Bottle (A3), 14th-15th January 2017

I had not meant to open this bottle when Rodney & Helen came for a meal, but somehow I found myself with corkscrew in hand, encouraging people to try my orange wine. We needed something to drink for the soup - cream of lemon - and the first bottle was already empty. Fig would have gone badly, so the natural choice was orange wine. I think our guests enjoyed it, though it was the only one of the four bottles that we did not finish. Helen said that she thought it was sherry-like, though I do not get that.

Claire finished the last dribble this evening, after a less than satisfactory afternoon Airedale rehearsal. We are badly prepared for next week's concert.

Strawberry Wine - Third Bottle (5), 14th January 2017

Strawberry wine is excellent. Tiramisu is delicious. They make a terrible combination. The sweet richness of the pudding makes the wine heavy and acid. I don't think I will serve strawberry as a dessert wine again.

This was our fourth bottle of the evening when Rodney & Helen came over - and four bottles between four is two too many. However, it was an excellent night. Rodney said that he hadn't seen Helen enjoy wine as much as the bottles I produced - which even if untrue is a nice thing to hear. Of the four, this was the one I liked least, but I blame the Tiramisu!

Fig Wine - Third Bottle (1), 14th January 2017

This bottle was certainly a hit. Rodney was in raptures about how good it was and wondered if he could order a case. (He can't.) Fig wine is fabulous - it has a deep figgy taste and is a delightful colour. It went splendidly with the lamb cous-cous and honeyed onions that Claire served as our main course.

I had been a little worried about the evening. I didn't really know Helen and Claire did not know her at all. I wasn't sure how well Rodney & Claire would get on and was anxious about awkward silences. Needless worry, of course. The evening was lots of fun, the conversation never stopped and we drank far too much.

Rhubarb, Elderflower & Mint - Fourth Bottle (1), 14th January 2017

A few months ago I went for a boozy lunch with Rodney and we got to discussing my home-made wine. I heard myself telling him that he and Helen would have to come over sometime and Claire would cook a delicious meal. Claire took this news better than many wives might have, and last night Rodney & Helen came over for the said delicious meal.

My first bottle (of, a now regrettable, four) opened was Rhubarb, Elderflower and Mint, and was Helen's favourite of the night. No-one picked up the mint flavour, but 'refreshing' was a word used to describe it. 'Lovely' was another one. All rather gratifying.

Orange Wine - Seventh Bottle (B3), 12th-15th October 2016

Orange wine is a reliable mid-week bottle ideal for sipping slowly while watching the Bake Off. This week, though, the bottle hung round until Saturday night, which is unusual. On Thursday I didn't have any because I was playing trios at Pat and Peter's. On Friday I didn't have any because it was Book Group at Gina's (Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier which I enjoyed but was not universally popular). On Saturday I didn't have any (apart from two stolen sips) because I had had a boozy lunch with Rodney at The Mustard Pot. Even though I did not have my fair share of this wine, it was a decent bottle of orange - sharp but not bitter.

Blackberry Wine - Final Bottle (B), 9th-10th April 2016

On Saturday I went for a boozy lunch with Rodney. There is no other kind when Rodney is your dining partner. We went to Flying Pizza and I was only slightly concerned when he invited the maitre-de to choose our wine for us. Therefore, in the evening I was not in any need of alcohol, so handed the (500 ml) bottle to Claire. She complained that it was thin, and left a glass for me to have on Sunday. I agree with her assessment. Demijohn B from this triple batch of blackberry has been disappointing. It is odd how one flavour from the same vintage has so much variation.

Orange - Bottle B5, 14th October 2011

It has been an alcoholic day. Not only have Claire and I finished this bottle tonight, I went for lunch with Rodney. Lunch with Rodney always means at least a bottle of wine - sometimes each, though today I let him drink the lion's share (well, 60%).

I had been planning to put two batches of wine into their demijohns and bottle the Dandelion this evening, but putting it all off until tomorrow sounds like a far more attractive proposition. Instead, I have spent the evening worrying - a favourite activity and one at which I am particularly good. I am worried about the Book's reception. Not amongst people I don't know, but those I do. I have been catty about Music Club and some people are likely to feel hurt. Too late now.