Mixed Flower & Nettle Wine - Second Bottle (1), 5th August 2021

This wine was unexpectedly popular at Rydal, and of the three that I took, this was the one most enjoyed. Francesca said that it was the best wine of mine that she has tried - though I think her experience is limited. Someone compared it to a Chardonnay, and I am suspicious of their palate.

Thursdays at Rydal tend to be the day that "Too much fun" catches up with you - and so it proved for me. I didn't do any walking (mind you, the weather had broken), but there was still plenty of music, including Dvorak's 8th Symphony, a Beethoven overture and March to the Scaffold

Too Much Fun at Rydal

Strawberry Wine 2019 - First Bottle (6), 4th July 2020

 My fears about this wine proved needless. Even Claire, who is not ordinarily a fan of strawberry wine, said that she liked it. The taste of strawberry is definitely there, but maybe not as pronounced as previous years. It may be a little drier too: more like a white wine than before.

It being 4th July, we ate fried chicken, potato salad and Boston Baked Beans, and then watched Little Shop of Horrors with Sally, Sooz and Jayne. It is a great musical - good tunes, clever lyrics, an amazing cast and just an overall joy.

Taken on 4th July

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

Prune & Parsnip Wine 2017 - Ninth Bottle (B2), 6th June 2020

I am feeling glum about my impending 50th birthday. Why, I'm not sure - it certainly has to do with the onward march towards mortality, but I think it also has to do with the circumstances in which we find ourselves. It wasn't as if my birthday would have been a big celebration anyway - I was due to play in an Airedale concert. But with social distancing, it is now going to be a quiet occasion.

We drank a bottle of Prune & Parsnip which helped improve my mood a little and I was persuaded to watch Pitch Perfect by Sooz, Jayne and Sally. Unexpectedly, I didn't loathe it.

Sage flowers, taken on 6 June.

Prune & Parsnip Wine - Fifth Bottle (B3), 27th July 2014

I have brought four bottles of wine with me to Rydal and at Katie's request Prune & Parsnip was the first one opened. She said it tasted like Christmas - which is precisely what both Sally and Robert Clack said about it last year. I shared the bottle round though probably drank a little less than half myself. Everyone was positive about it - Rosie particularly so. Her family owns a soft-fruit farm, I discovered today, so it is definitely worth impressing her with my wine.

The day as a whole has mostly involved Mozart and Brahms. We struggled through the latter's first symphony tonight and it is not a piece I know well. Too many sharps, flats and accidentals for my liking.

Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante

Blackcurrant & Red Gooseberry Wine - First Bottle (1), 2nd August 2013

Really very tasty indeed. But also fizzy. I opened this bottle for our last night at Rydal, and had to be quick with the pour as I saw bubbles travelling up the bottle neck. Very few drops escaped and I was helped by Sally's waiting glass. The taste is sharp and fruity. It is just as light as blackcurrant proper but there is possibly more depth to it. I would have to taste them together to decide.

The evening I drank this was Very Silly Indeed. It involved having to create a two minute opera on the theme of Beyoncé. I was assigned the role of 'Flying Horse' and was required to sing the bass part to Ride of the Valkyries, while a vicar sang the soprano part falsetto. A bottle of wine could only help.

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

Prune & Parsnip - Seventh Bottle (A6), 28th July 2013

We are staying at Rydal Hall in the Lake District for our annual orchestra holiday and I have brought five bottles of wine with me. Prune & Parsnip was the first and I encouraged many musicians to have a taste. The overall feedback I got was "Far better than we had feared" and most people were postively enthusiastic. Matt and Sally independently compared it to the taste of Christmas. It definitely has a sherry taste, and I drank much of the bottle myself (which is too much sherry for one person).

Rydal Hall - My room was middle row, 7th from the left

The musical highlight of the day was Dvorak's Eighth Symphony which I have decided is my favourite of his. Each movement is galoptious, though I now wonder if I have invented that word.

Crab Apple - Bottle B5, 3rd August 2011

Wednesday was an energetic day at Rydal Hall, and this was my partial reward. I spent the day walking the Fairfield Horseshoe, which was more than ten miles from beginning to end and involved a huge amount of Up. The weather was glorious and the views from the top terrific. Then the evening was spent playing Tchaikovsky's Second Symphony.

A bottle of crab apple wine went down nicely - and again I force fed it to others, requiring them to say how much they liked it. Actually, most of them did - particularly Sally - but it was less popular than the elderberry.