Xmas Tutti Fruti - Second Bottle (A5), 25th-26th January 2018

It is not often that we have steak, and when we do, we have it rare. Our freezer is in desperate need of a defrost, so we are gradually eating our way through its contents. This steak dates from December 2016. It was still delicious, with a wonderful mushroom sauce and potatoes fried with expertise (by me). Of course we needed something red to go with it, and this Christmas Tutti Fruti is, in fact, rather good. There is a slight fizz and plenty of flavour. It being Burns Night, I had already had a stiff whisky and it being a Thursday I though it unwise to finish the bottle. The remnants were saved for tonight, before opening a bottle of Nasty Mango Wine.

Our freezer isn't quite this bad!

Rose Petal Wine - Seventh Bottle (B1), 21st January 2018

Drinking three bottles on a Sunday night between four is excessive. I felt croaky the following day, blaming a nascent cold, but knowing that alcohol had its part to play. However, we had just come back from an Airedale Concert, where Brahms' 2nd Symphony went particularly well, and we were entertaining Rachel, Duncan and Ruth. So, I have my excuses.

The Rose Petal followed a bottle of Prosecco, and was a good wine. It is Rachel's favourite of mine and I think this vintage is as interesting and tasty as any I have made. Still, I should really have stopped there.

Prune & Parsnip Wine 2015 - Final Bottle (B4), 19th January 2018

This bottle of Prune & Parsnip was particularly good. It had a rounded depth to it and was easy to drink. It was our Friday night bottle and, as is often the case at the end of the week, we drank it to aged-vegetable curry and then sat in front of the fire, reading, before an early night. My book is East West Street by Philippe Sands - which deals with the author's family history 1900-1950, Nazi atrocities and the development of International Law. And ideal book while slipping into inebriation.

Inca Berry & Raisin Wine - First Bottle (4), 18th-19th January 2018

I had feared the worst for this wine. It was made only tick off a letter and there was no way that it would even be drinkable. Therefore, it is with some astonishment that I can report it is actually really rather good. Inca Berry & Raisin is a dark golden colour and has a solid wine taste (I suspect that will be the raisins). Claire is less enthusiastic, describing the wine as 'Inoffensive' and 'One step below nice'. We raised our glasses to Adam, for the idea, and drank to lamb chops and chips. I cooked - and the food (if I do say so) was excellent. The lamb was marinated in olive oil, a crushed clove of garlic, a teaspoon of sea salt, a good deal of ground pepper and a dollop of chilli paste. Claire insisted that I make a record of what I did. Behold the record!

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

Elderberry Wine - Ninth Bottle (B2), 14th January 2018

This elderberry wine has matured superbly. It is velvet smooth and has a rounded flavour. It is sweet enough to accompany game pie (which is lucky, because that is what we had) without being so sweet as to block all other tastes. The game pie was excellent, using up the venison and cranberries saved from Christmas. I can't remember having eaten a better savoury pie.

I have spent much of the evening lying on the chaise-longue reading a 1930s classic crime novel - The Hog's Back Mystery - where the puzzle was everything and characterisation was minimal. Enjoyable and interesting as a period piece but little more than that.

Blackcurrant Wine - Twentieth Bottle (C2), 13th January 2018

The most notable part of today does not involve wine at all. Claire has started trombone lessons. This was my birthday present to her - my colleagues thought it a terrible idea, but Claire had an excellent time and I am now expecting delivery of a plastic trombone at some point this week. I can only imagine how the cats (and neighbours) will react when she starts practising.

We drank this bottle of blackcurrant wine to a lentil lasagne and then to The King's Speech on DVD. I enjoyed both the wine and the film but did not love either of them. Blackcurrant wine and films about English aristocracy are both dependable.

Ginger Wine 2018 - The Making Of...

Now that I have finished my Wine Alphabet, I am inclined only to make nice wines. Experimentation is all well and good, but when I look through my wine cellar I see that I still have too many bottles of Punishment Wine. I have yet to finish Whitecurrant, Vanilla, Lemon & Lime or Ya Ya Pear, and I haven't even started drinking Inca Berry & Raisin, or bottling Jasmine Tea. All were made to tick a letter off my list and I wonder if these will be left for my executors to distribute. Therefore, I have promoted Ginger Wine to a regular - on the basis that 2016's batch was so good - and it will now be my January brew. It should remain a single batch wine, however, on the basis that it has an unusual taste.

The ingredients measured out

I started making this wine on Sunday, 7th January and I have followed my 2016 instructions nearly precisely so far. I weighed out a 5 oz piece of root ginger and 1 lb sultanas, and I counted out four lemons. I skinned the ginger and then sliced it finely - so finely that it is more accurate to refer to the pieces as shavings. Each lemon had the outermost bit of peel sliced off - this was a dull task and I was not entirely successful in avoiding the pith. I minced the sultanas in the food processor and squeezed the lemons. The ginger, outermost lemon peel, sultanas and lemon juice all went into the bucket and I poured 3½ pints of boiling water over it. I am dubious that leaving this 24 hours before I put in 2½ lbs of sugar and another 3½ pints of boiling water has any effect, but this is what I did in 2016 and therefore what I did this time.

The ingredients prepared and in the bucket

I added the yeast and a teaspoon each of Pectolase and Nutrient on Tuesday morning. After stirring the mix once or twice a day, I put the wine into its demijohn on Friday 12th January - Claire's birthday. This was a quick job, which was a Good Thing, because we weren't allowed to have Claire's Birthday Champagne until I had finished.

I left a large gap in the demijohn overnight to allow the initial vigorous fermentation to settle down before topping it up from the wine saved over.

For this wine, my water measurements were exactly right and I have a good feeling about how it will all turn out (and if that isn't tempting fate, I don't know what is).

Ginger Wine in its demijohn

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