Blackberry Wine 2020 - Third Bottle (B3), 10th July 2021

This bottle would have been another exploder, but this time I caught it with the cork protruding upwards and bunged it in the fridge. Two days later, Saturday, the wine remained safely in its container so I removed the cork and we drank the lot. I don't think 'fizzy' adds to the whole red wine experience, but otherwise this was a decent bottle of wine.

The day was uneventful, save that I played BATHROOM on a triple word score in my weekly Scrabble session (98 points, thank you very much) and ordered a mini-freezer for this year's excess fruit.

Raspberries ripening in our garden 

Blackberry Wine 2020 - Second Bottle (B1), 9th-10th June 2021

When choosing a wine on Wednesday, I noticed this one had its cork part of the way out. It was stored on its side, so emergency action was required. There was a small 'pop' as I opened it, but the wine did not explode out of the bottle. Its taste was excellent, though, and it took all self control not to finish it then and there. Claire had the rest on Thursday - the Feast of St Ithamar - whilst I was at Pat & Peter's for the first time in 16 months to play trios. It was so good to be there again and, against all expectations, it was musically satisfying too.

The Feast of St Ithamar

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

Strawberry Wine 2018 - Second Bottle (1), 28th November 2019

On the basis that strawberry wine is Richard's favourite, I opened this bottle for Thanksgiving. As with the previous bottle, this one had a distinct fizz. Unlike the previous bottle, I removed its cork. It was with some trepidation that I asked Richard whether it was acceptable. Happily it was more than: it was actively nice. Rather drier than previous bottles of strawberry wine and perhaps a little less strawberry flavoured. The fizz is entirely beneficial, apart from giving the wine a tendency to explode.

Our Thanksgiving Table - before the food!

Strawberry Wine - First Bottle (5), 3rd-7th November 2019

It has taken us until early November to drink the first bottle from this batch of strawberry wine. This is because I stored all the bottles in the crypt and I rarely venture down there. When I opened it up to store some prune & parsnip I discovered that this bottle had popped its cork. I haven't had an explosion for years! There is no telling how long it has been open for, but we decided to drink it anyway.

Claire had a sherry-glass full and decided that this was plenty. I pretended that the wine was acceptable (it wasn't) and had two glasses. By Thursday night and another half glass, I decided that the only acceptable place for this was down the sink.

Xmas Tutti Fruti - First Bottle (A5), 25th December 2018

After a couple of Christmas Day cocktails (only one of which involved a Brussel Sprout garnish) I opened my first bottle of 2017's Xmas Tutti Fruti, serving it between all Taylors and me. I am pleased with this vintage. Whilst it does not reach the heady heights of 2014, it is still rather good. There is a slight fizz and it is both dry and fruity. On occasion, Tutti Fruti can be thin, but that is not apparent in this bottle. By the time we sat down to eat, this wine was a distant memory.

Elderberry Wine 2014 - Final Bottle (A2), 17th November 2018

I decided to open my oldest elderberry for the Wine Party on the basis that elderberry wine just gets better as it ages. On the basis of this bottle, that might be an urban myth. It opened with a 'pop' and its dry fizziness only served to make it weird. Someone wrote that it was 'subtle' and I disagree with that. Jayne preferred it to Strawberry and I disagree with that too. Lindsay may have gone too far the other way, calling it 'Fizzy Vomit'. It came tenth overall with an average score of 2.7 out of 5. As someone else wrote:

E is for Evil.

Elderberry Wine 2014 - Eleventh Bottle (B1), 15th June 2018

When eating curry with guests, a mature bottle of elderberry wine is the one to choose. Claire cooked three sorts of curry - Sindhi lamb, a dall and something involving tiny cucumbers - and made a couple of dips. We had Liz, David, Angie and Phil over. The food was exquisite and the wine accompanied it well, though was fizzier than ideal. Call me traditional, but I think I prefer my red wines flat. Still, it had a rounded and pleasant taste that held its own against the strong flavours in our meal. The evening was drunken and entertaining - and I needed that after a busy and difficult week at work.

Strawberry Wine - Fourth Bottle (5), 8th May 2018

This bottle of wine was converted into a cocktail, which I named 'Ben's Surprise', the surprise being that it was better than drinkable. Into each of nine glasses I put a dessert spoon of pureed strawberries, then equal measures of strawberry wine and prosecco, followed by a garnish of chopped strawberries. It has been inspired by a cocktail Rachel drank at lunchtime in Hix's Fish & Oyster House. A proper summery drink and an entirely suitable use of strawberry wine.

'Ben's Surprise' in the making

Gooseberry Wine - First Bottle (3), 4th March 2018

Ordinarily I wait a year between picking fruit and drinking the first bottle of wine. However, I think that gooseberry may be a wine best drunk young, so I have opened this early. Also, it was a suitable bottle to take round to David & Liz's: we have given them six cuttings from our gooseberry plants and seeing as I have converted Liz to making her own wine, I thought I'd show her what gooseberry wine was like. This was a high-risk strategy: I have had some spectacular failures with gooseberry. It paid off. The wine is bone dry and has a bite to it. There is a slight fizz and the gooseberry taste is there on the first sip before retreating into a prosecco feel. This wine is definitely a hit.

Any guesses as to why I have chosen this image?

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

Blackberry Wine - Sixth Bottle (B3), 16th-17th February 2018

Maybe I should start drinking a little less. What I chiefly remember about this bottle is Saturday morning's headache. On Friday night we finished the orange wine (of which I had two glasses) and then started on this blackberry (at least another two). A headache intruded into my sleep and took most the morning to go. Claire is already drinking less, so what I am not to do is to make up her share. It isn't as if this blackberry is worth the hangover. It is fine - unmistakably blackberry in flavour with a slight fizz, but it is not its sumptuous best. Certainly on Saturday night I drank less and feel fine this Sunday morning.

Fig Wine - Third Bottle (5), 10th February 2018

We were over in York for this bottle of wine. Our last visit had been September and that is too long. It is lovely spending a relaxed, drunken evening with my parents. Pop cooked fish, Mom did the vegetables and pudding, and I opened the bottle.

This wine has a fizz to it and there is less body than previous vintages of Fig. However, it is one of those wines that is a 'grower': the first sip is uninteresting, but it curiously improves down the glass. Or is that just my faculties dimming?

Blackberry Wine - Fourth Bottle (B2), 26th-28th November 2017

On Sunday our house was quiet again. All visitors had left the day before and, whilst I love entertaining, having one's own space back is always a relief. It is a measure of how good the Thanksgiving holiday was that we had no wine on Saturday and only half a bottle of blackberry (which is now fizzy) on Sunday.

We finished the bottle having returned from meeting our next cats: Kato and Wiggy (which we have decided is short for Wilgefortis, and that makes it better). They are 6-year-old siblings, pure white and needed a home urgently. He is a bruiser, she is beautiful and both are affectionate.

St Wilgefortis - patron saint of bearded ladies

Orange Wine - Fifth Bottle (B4), 12th-13th July 2017

Shortly after I opened this bottle, Claire gave her second shriek in as many days. Nothing to do with the wine and everything to do with invertebrates in the kitchen. On Tuesday there was a wolf-spider in our lesser used pan drawer and on Wednesday it was a slug on a pan lid. Orange wine was required to calm frayed nerves. And judging by how little was left for Thursday, they required considerable calming.

On Thursday, there was cause for celebration. Claire has a new job in immunology and it is a huge relief. A quarter of a bottle of orange wine was not a sufficient celebration, so we had a bottle of Prosecco as well.

Blackberry Wine - Sixth Bottle (B3), 2nd-3rd May 2017

This bottle of blackberry had started a secondary fermentation, so was drier than the others of this vintage and fizzy. Neither attribute is particularly beneficial, which is a shame because I brought it on holiday as an example of something delicious. It was fine, but no more than.

I opened the wine after an 8-mile walk that in High Force and Low Force on the River Tees, as well as Teeside moorland. There was some beautiful scenery, and High Force was powerful and dangerous. The Tees at this point was peat-blackened with browny-white foam, and it looked as if gallons of Guinness were pouring over the waterfall.

High Force

Christmas Tutti Fruti - Ninth Bottle (B2), 8th December 2016

Delicious. This vintage of Christmas Tutti Fruti is the best I have ever made. The depth of fruit is wonderful and the slight fizz is entirely beneficial.

We shared the bottle with Matt Byrne, who is in Leeds for a training course - and it was lovely to see him. Claire made three curries - all fabulous (but particularly the lamb) and we discussed defences to bigamy, and whether failing to report one's spouse falling off a cliff amounted to a crime. None of us is planning on putting either of these scenarios into practice.

Elderberry Wine 2012 - Final Bottle (B6), 11th September 2016

Claire said that she wanted the best bottle of elderberry in the house. She had cooked 'Kleftiko' - a lamb dish that requires a day to prepare. I remembered we still had a bottle of Elderberry 2012, so dug that out from below the stairs. Leaving the wine for four years has done it no end of good. Despite its fizz, it was a fuller, rounder taste. Deep, rich, with a strong elderberry flavour. The lamb was also superb - I could cut it with a plastic spoon.

We drank the first couple of glasses rapt, listening to an hour long episode of The Archers. It was the trial's denouement. We were taken iinside the juryroom as the jury deliberated on Helen Archer's fate. The episode was beautifully written and acted: tense and believable. And, of course, the verdict was 'Not Guilty'. A nation rejoices.

Blackcurrant Wine - Second Bottle (A6), 2nd September 2016

Blackcurrant wine is delicious. This vintage is fizzy, sharp and loaded with fruit. It is Claire's favourite flavour for good reason. We drank it on Friday night while listening to The Archers (the trial is fast approaching), then while eating curry & dumplings (an odd but successful combination) and then finally in bed while scoffing a mirror-glazed genoise cake with orange jelly, chocolate icing and spiced kumquats. It was an excellent night.

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

Elderberry Wine - Seventh Bottle (B3), 15th July 2016

Bob and Judith have just returned from France, and wanted an overnight break on their journey from Portsmouth to Newcastle. Claire cooked an amazing array of vegetable curries and I opened a bottle of elderberry wine. It fizzed enthusiastically and was a good accompaniment to the food.

I have lent Bob my French bassoon and in return he has fixed our grandfather clock. This is not quite the blessing it sounds. At 3 a.m. I was still awake listening to the relentless tick of time passing.

NB - This is my 999th blog post. I'm not sure whether my 1000th should just be an ordinary one (rose petal, in case you are interested) or some sort of celebration.

Gooseberry & Elderflower Wine - Final Bottle (B3), 18th-19th November 2015

I think it has taken all twelve bottle and three years, but finally I thought this flavour was quite good. It fizzed on opening and had a dry & refreshing taste. Any mustiness was subtle (but not quite unnoticeable). The answer to horrible wine must be to leave it for several years before opening.

We started the wine on Wednesday night after WYSO (Mozart's 24th Piano Concerto - wonderful) and before Claire began her experiment to cure insomnia (basically don't try to go to sleep and when you do, sleep in a different bed to your husband). We finished it on Thusday, when Claire was feeling refreshed from a proper night's rest and I had been kept awake by Aggie wriggling, washing and scratching.