Ginger Wine - First Bottle (1), 1st January 2019

This bottle of wine was rather splendid. The ginger is fiery but not overpowering, and the wine is both dry and light. I think I have got the quantities in perfect balance. Seeing as this is the wine that I shall make this month, that is a Good Thing.

We have had a jolly first of January in Cambridge with Rachel and Duncan. I spent the morning reading Treasure Island - the classic Boy's Own Adventure - and then went for a seven mile walk in the afternoon, which involved tickling pigs and climbing (insofar as one can climb in Cambridgeshire) to an obelisk.

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

Strawberry Wine 2016 - Final Bottle (3), 31st December 2018

New Year's Eve is traditionally a time to drink in excess, and I am happy to report that we kept that tradition.

We have spent the New Year in Cambridge with Rachel & Duncan, which is always a pleasure. A cup of tea was presented on our arrival but soon this was followed by gin & tonics, a gin fizz cocktail and too many bottles of wine (of which this was one and delicious). At nine o'clock I was convinced that, like most years these days, I would fail to see midnight and 2019 arrive. Claire went to bed at 10:30, but by then I had got a second wind and stayed up to hear the chimes of Big Ben and watch fireworks explode over the Thames.

Blackberry Wine - Sixth Bottle (C5), 29th December 2018

We have done the Taylors and now it is the turn of the Hardys. Christmas really is an opportunity to see as many people in as short a time as possible. Our visit to York has coincided with Chris, Rachael, Paul and Myles being here - and I saw Keith and family on the 27th. It has been fabulous to catch up with everyone and I had not seen Chris since early June.

Myles is squarely into his dinosaur phase and three quarters of his presents - socks, books, toys, Bingo - were dinosaur related.

There was plenty of booze in the evening and I contributed this bottle of blackberry. It was rather better than the Parma-Violet flavoured gin on offer.

Gooseberry Wine - Third Bottle (1), 28th December 2018

Well, this is tart. Not unpleasant by any means, but you wouldn't want it any drier. The gooseberry flavour powers through and I have been given permission by Claire to make it again in years where there is a gooseberry glut.

We drank the wine on Friday night (how can it be Friday already?), enjoying being at home with no entertaining to do. I had spent the day watching Christmas television, planning a trip to Coll in March and reading Treasure Island - one of those books that I have never read, but has seeped into my consciousness. There is barely a character's name that is unfamiliar, though the story is unknown.

Prune & Parsnip Wine 2015 - Final Bottle (A4), 27th December 2018

That time between Christmas and New Year is always strange. I lose track of the days and the drinking hour creeps forward. By the time I opened this bottle it was around 7 and Claire, Sooz and I had already polished off a whisky mac each and a bottle of mulled wine.

This Prune & Parsnip was approaching four years old and has lost the over-riding sherry taste. It was still recognisable, but just a tad drier and maybe not as good. Therefore, Prune & Parsnip, unlike Elderberry or Dandelion, is not one to save into its old age.

Rose Petal & Orange Wine - Third Bottle (4), 26th December 2018

Boxing Day should be spent walking vigorously over bleak hills in the cold air. Mostly I spent it sat on a sofa reading And Then We Came To The End by Joshua Ferris (an excellent book - my second time through). Claire, Sooz and I managed a sojourn to Seaton Sluice where Claire spent her time looking for shells and I slithered around on the rocks, but where very little energy was expended.

Seaton Sluice

Back at 3 The Alders, Claire opened this bottle and everyone enjoyed it. Bob detected licorice, but no-one else got that. Sooz identified the citrus but failed to pick up on the rose, whereas I think the rose is dominant.

Xmas Tutti Fruti 2018 - The Making Of...

Though I pretend not to, and despite being distinctly grumpy at work, I do enjoy Christmas. More accurately, I enjoy the feasting, the friends and family, and the sheer laziness of it. Today, Sunday 23rd December, has emphasized the last of these. I got up late and, other than a jaunt out to pick up provisions from Harehills, I have done very little. Or 'very little' unless one counts wine-making, which personally I don't. A hobby does not fall into the category of 'chore' (though rinsing and sterilising equipment is never exciting).

This afternoon I began my Christmas Tutti Fruti, though this has only consisted of digging fruit out of the freezer, weighing it and putting it into my bucket to defrost. In total I have 8 lbs and ¾ oz of fruit, which is enough for a double batch. Taking the fruit in the order that I added it I have:

Quince - ¾ oz

• Elderberries - 6 ¾ oz
• Blackberries - 7 ½ oz
• Strawberries - 10 ½ oz
• Rosehips - ¾ oz
• Sloes - 12 ½ oz
• Blackcurrants - 3 lbs, 3½ oz
• Redcurrants - ½ oz
• Raspberries - 4 oz
• Gooseberries - 1 lb 6½ oz
• Apple - 9 oz
• Satsuma - One (weighing in at 2 oz)

I left the fruit overnight to defrost. That evening, my Christmas started in earnest with Christmas carolling round the neighbourhood, organised by Angie for St Gemma
's Hospice. This is the event which marks the beginning of Yuletide for me - it is a pleasure to sing carols half-remembered from my youth, in a group where virtually everyone else can sing in four-part harmony.

The crushed fruit, with sugar added

On Christmas Eve I waited until 3 p.m. and the strains of Once in Royal David's City from King's College, Cambridge before mashing the fruit. I added 5½ lbs sugar and 12 pints of boiling water and gave it all a good stir, crushing any whole gooseberries I found with the back of the wooden spoon. The yeast, nutrient, pectolase and a small quantity of tannin went in on Christmas Day.

The fruit, fermenting in its bucket

I left the wine mostly unstirred (on account of being in Newcastle and York) until Sunday, 30th December, when I put the wine into demijohns. The wine has the most sludge that I can remember and made the process long and sticky. The following morning I weighed the discarded fruit. From the original 8 lbs, it now weighs 3½. The rest must be juice.