Nectarine Wine - Final Bottle (3), December 2020 - 21st May 2021

I can't remember when exactly I opened this bottle (it was before Christmas), but it was a wine that both Claire and I rejected for being Too Nasty. Rather than do the sensible thing and pour it down the sink, I put a cork in the bottle and stored it in the porch. There it stayed until this week, and I have had a glass most nights. It is just drinkable and that is good enough for me. 

On Friday night I was very much out of sorts (see Orange 2020 for an explanation) and finished the bottle, knowing that I would wake on Saturday with a headache. I woke on Saturday with a headache.

A photo from earlier in the week. Orchestra is Back!!!

Blackberry Wine 2019 - Tenth Bottle (A2), 26th February 2021

A beer, a Negroni and a bottle of blackberry wine on a Friday night do not make a particularly joyful Saturday morning. However, they seemed like a good idea at the time. It had been a difficult couple of days at work - not bad at all; in fact more interesting than most - and drinking to excess was a way to close off the week. The wine was no more than okay - Claire described it as a disappointing red. It led to an entirely sober Saturday, which is distinctly unusual, but was needed.

Catkins - taken on my morning walk

Strawberry Wine 2019 - Third Bottle (4), 22nd December 2020

Well, this wasn't a great idea. After an intense three weeks at work, the hardest that I have had for an age, I got the £8.4m contract in Calderdale exchanged and promptly drank the greater half of a bottle of champagne. I then opened this bottle of Strawberry - which was superb: a proper strawberry taste - and we finished that too. As I say, not a great idea. One can overdo the concept of celebration. It led to a poor night's sleep, feeling muddled the next morning and a short-lived desire to stay away from the booze.

A dull photo taken on 22 December.
I was trying to get the Leeds skyline.

 

Rhubarb, Mint & Elderflower 2018 - Fourth Bottle (5), 20th May 2020

It was such a lovely evening on Wednesday that we ate supper in the garden. I cooked salmon with leeks, cous cous and a red pepper sauce, and we sat under the apple tree as the night darkened. Previously we had finished the apple wine (more than a third of a bottle) so finishing this bottle too was not the best of ideas. Certainly I regretted it Thursday morning. However, it is delicious and went so well with the food. Claire thinks that I need to start dialing back on the mint, but I'm not sure I agree. It was an excellent evening.

Our Rockery - taken on 20th May

Blackcurrant Wine - Eighth Bottle (A6), 26th July 2019

I really should not have finished this bottle. I had already had a glass of rose petal & orange and a negroni. But my day in the office was over 11 hours long and we are now on holiday. Therefore drinking lots in a short space of time was always going to happen. It is now Saturday morning and I feel somewhat the worse for wear. But we had a nice evening - eating cheesy wotsits followed by pizza in the garden and then an episode of Mad Men. In my defence, if we had not finished the bottle, it would have remained half open whilst we were away at Rydal. And that would have been a waste.

Prune & Parsnip Wine - Fourth Bottle (A5), 4th-5th July 2019

This was a true midweek bottle which two days later I can barely remember. I started Wednesday evening with a beer before moving onto the Prune & Parsnip and then finishing the night with just a snifter of whisky. It is little surprise, then, that I woke on Thursday with a minor headache, which I failed to shake all day. This meant that my plans to walk into work were rapidly shelved. It only makes my behaviour slightly more reputable to note that there was still some wine left in the bottle for a taste on Thursday.

Prune & Parsnip Wine - Second Bottle (B5), 6th April 2019

When I asked Mary what bottle I should bring, she asked if I had any parsnip wine. She remembers a relative from her youth making this. Prune & Parsnip was deemed close enough, so this is what I took over. It was the night before our Airedale Symphony Orchestra concert and we stayed over in Ilkley. It was an entertaining evening and all woke with headaches the next morning. Mary was particularly impressed with the prune & parsnip wine, which we drank with an Amaretto and White Chocolate cheesecake. As this was the last bottle drank, I blame it for Sunday's grogginess.

Apple & Strawberry Wine - Third Bottle (3), 27th July - 4th August 2018

Two Fridays ago I had just started a week's holiday and opened a bottle of Apple & Strawberry wine to celebrate. It was a delicate, fragrant wine but two glasses in Becky shouted over the garden fence inviting us to come look at her new kitchen. It was certainly impressive and one new feature appeared to be the 'Never Ending Glass of Wine'. Whenever I looked down, there it was - full again. Consequently I woke the next morning feeling rather more (less?) than fragile and there was still half a bottle of Apple & Strawberry. I stoppered it and left it in the fridge whilst we were at Rydal having a marvellous (if wet) time. On our return the wine was still drinkable, so we polished it off, despite not planning to drink that Saturday.

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.

Rhubarb Wine - Ninth Bottle (C4), 9th-12th November 2017

On Thursday night, while on a train from London to Leeds, my phone buzzed. A text from Claire read "I have opened a bottle of wine". I sent one back suggesting that she may have chosen Peach & Banana, but was informed that it was 'nice', thus ruling out that flavour. When I returned, several glasses of wine ahead (travelling First Class is marvellous), I found this bottle of rhubarb in the fridge - so poured Claire and I another half glass each. Claire was right; it is a good bottle of wine.

We left the remainder in the fridge whilst we spent the weekend in Newcastle, celebrating Bob & Judith and Richard & Dianne's 50th Wedding Anniversaries. This involved a Barn Dance and lots of beer. I dosy-doed, swung and stripped the willow like a good 'in, driving back to Leeds on Sunday morning with a headache. Half a bottle of wine between us on Sunday was plenty.

Ya-Ya Pear Wine - Third Bottle (4), 21st October 2017

Ladies & Gentlemen, may I present this year's loser of the Wine Party. Ya-ya Pear was the lowest scorer of my 12 bottles, with an average score of 2.19 out of 5. It was the lowest scored wine by Rachel, Helen, Claire, Phil, Anthony and me. Only David ("4 - Length") and Matthew ("3 - Crisp and delicate") had anything nice to say about it. We still managed to finish the bottle between us, however and I am not aware of any hangovers the following morning. Four guests stayed over: Rachel, Duncan, Kate and Jayne; and all were bright, chirpy and ready for bacon sandwiches on Sunday.

Crab Apple Wine - Eighth Bottle (E3), 9th-10th December 2016

Opened on a Friday and finished on a Saturday - that doesn't happen very often. This might indicate that the wine was somewhat less than palatable, but in fact this is a great batch of crab apple - sharp and light. It was more down to kicking the evening off with a whisky mac and knowing that Saturday was going to be intense - a long afternoon rehearsal followed by a concert. Haviing a hangover would be counterproductive.

We finished the last third after the concert (and, shockingly, after a bottle of blackcurrant) sat in front of the stove, knowing that we had played well. It is a glorious feeling.

Blackberry Wine - Twelfth Bottle (A1), 9th May 2015

I cooked Greek Baked Lamb for six today and decided that of the wines I have brought to Suffolk, blackberry would go best. It was a tasty bottle and was very quickly followed by something red made from grapes. We it took it rather easier on the wine than last night, where we ended up drinking seven bottles between us. This led to a day-long hangover, and walking twelve miles through Suffolk countryside with a life-threatening headache is not the greatest of experiences. I appear to have survived.

Recipe for Greek Baked Lamb (for six)

2 lbs lamb
1 lb tomatoes - a few more possibly
1/2 lb feta cheese
olive oil
salt and pepper

Spread the lamb in a shallow baking dish.
Chop the feta into thin slices and place over lamb
Chop the tomatoes into thin slices and place over feta
Sprinkle on the salt and pepper liberally
Pour over a good quantity of olive oil
Bake in an oven at gas mark 4 for one and a half hours.
Serve with rice. - Very easy and delicious.

Gooseberry & Elderflower Wine - Ninth Bottle (A1), 4th-6th March 2015

The first couple of glasses from this bottle, whilst the wine was still a clear golden colour, were absolutely fine. The flavour was maybe a little full-on, but it was entirely acceptable. As the bottle progressed, however, the wine became murky and brown, and the final glass after Book Group on Friday night cause a headache on Saturday morning.

Book Group was lots of fun. We were discussing The Minaturist by Jessie Burton and about half of us liked it. I was in the other half. The evening ended with me inadvertently being extremely insulting to Helen. She tells a great story, and last night it was about how her bank card was frozen for Unusual Activity, which mostly consisted of her buying a tea cake and Hello magazine at Leicester Forest East. I suggested that she contact You and Yours as they often run stories on "slightly interesting ancecdotes". Oops.

Prune & Parsnip 2015 - The Making Of ...

If it's February, it must be Prune & Parsnip.

We (and I use 'we' in the broadest sense here; Claire is not particularly keen) are looking for a new house, and on Saturday 7th February I made the psychological leap and went to look at one. It was okay, but no more than, and therefore not the one for us. Immediately afterwards I went to buy parsnips in Harehills - which was far more within my comfort zone.

The rest of Saturday was taken up with getting the house ready for a Feast. Cleaning and Tidying were the priority, so my four pounds of parsnips waited patiently in the coal shed before being turned into wine today, Sunday 8th February. First of all, though, I had to recover from a hangover following the Feast, and go on a six mile walk round Rawdon and Yeadon with Claire, Rachel and Duncan. It was a cold walk with some fabulous views of the open countryside to the north west of Leeds, and the perfect antidote to the previous evening's indulgence.

Back at home, after bottling my rose-petal wine, I chopped the parsnips into small pieces and boiled these in two lots, each covered in 8 pints of water (so 16 pints in total). The first lot got twenty minutes of boiling and the second got half an hour. I poured the water into my bucket, using a collander to catch the parsnips, and threw these out. The bucket already contained 1 lb (actually 500 grams) of prunes, each cut in half, and 5-and-a-half pounds of sugar. Next morning I added the yeast, a teaspoon and a half of nutrient and a teaspoon of pectolase.

I was going to put this into its demijohns on Friday evening, but was desperately tired. I ended up going to bed at half past eight, and I think I was asleep by nine. Instead, I transferred the liquid on Saturday morning, 14th February - and I only got nascent prune and parsnip wine down my shirt front and all over the kitchen the once. It is worth remembering that my sieve doesn't quite balance when forming the diameter of my bucket.

The ingredients fermenting

The wine is paler than in past years, which means it is an attactive orange colour rather than a dingy brown.

 

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

Crab Apple & Strawberry Wine - Second Bottle (4), 7th February 2015

I have just counted up. We got through seven bottles last night. Between six of us. No wonder my head is pounding. This Crab Apple & Strawberry was one of the early ones and the only one of mine. The occasion was a Feast for Julia - or at least for six of those who miss her. As well as us two, there was Ros, Emma, Christian and Katie.

We drank this bottle to the starters, which were puris filled with spicy potatoes and tamarind sauce, and a savoury cake made with yoghurt and gram flour, topped with chillies, coriander and mustard seeds. This was a tantalising hint for the food to come.

The crab apple & strawberry was a good bottle - dry and interesting, and I was gratified to see the guests having a second glass.

Prune & Parsnip Wine - Sixth Bottle (B2), 10th-11th September 2014

Prune & Parsnip is a good bottle anyway, but I think it is at its best when cold. The chill counterbalances its heavy sherry taste.

I stuck this bottle in the fridge on Wednesday evening before a Brahms rehearsal at WYSO and we opened it to watch The Great British Bake Off  on our return. This meant a late night, and late nights are beginning to catch up with me. This is the second week in a row when I have been out every week-day night; mostly playing the bassoon. Checking my diary I see that I am out every night next week as well. At least three of those are with Claire - otherwise she might forget what I look like.

Anyway, we didn't finish the bottle on Wednesday, but I drank enough to give me a thumping headache for much of Thursday. The last couple of glasses were drunk on Thursday after I came back from Pat & Peter's and the final rehearsal before a Music Club performance on Saturday.

Elderberry Wine - Eleventh Bottle (B4), 22nd-23rd August 2014

This was the third bottle opened on Friday night while Ros was here, and that was a poor decision. Not because of its taste, which is full and red, but because of Saturday morning's headache. As hangovers go it was mild, but on the throbbing side of noticeable. Having indulged rather too heartily on Friday, we punished ourselves by only drinking what was left in this bottle on Saturday night. So Saturday - my parents' 50th wedding anniversary - was distinctly sober. It meant a good night's sleep, though, and I woke this Sunday morning bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

Rhubarb & Elderflower Wine - Fourth Bottle (5), 24th-25th December 2013

Most of this bottle was had on a glorious, drunken Christmas Eve. We are in York and on Tuesday night so was Chris. This made for an entertaining, noisy evening full of debate, food, wine and whisky. Perhaps too much of the last. I woke on Christmas morning with a throbbing head. A couple of paracetamol, lots of water and an aborted attempt at walking round York City Walls settled that.

Pop and I finished the bottle late on Christmas afternoon as a tidying up exercise before the meal. The wine was less good that I remember, but entirely passable. It is one of those that gets better the more you drink. Funny that.

The Walls were closed on Christmas Day