Nectarine Wine - Third Bottle (1), 27th-28th February 2019

There is a slight fizz and a distinct nectarine taste to this wine. It is dry yet fruity and I am pleased with it - to the extent that I may make it again one day. Claire thinks it is a mid-week bottle, which is what this was, but I am not so sure. The circumstances in which we have drunk this have been entirely unremarkable - listening to The Archers, eating a tomato, bean & chorizo dish and chatting to my father.

My nectarine wine

Rhubarb Wine - Eighth Bottle (B6), 22nd February 2019

Over the last week I have been seduced. Claire is entirely happy with this, for she has been seduced too. We have both fallen for a step-counter. The psychology of it is so obvious that I am cross that I find it attractive. But I have an impetus to go for a walk at lunchtimes rather than sit at my desk, reading the Guardian on-line.

On Friday, after having this pace counter for a week, I got over 18,000 steps and rewarded myself with a bottle of rhubarb wine. This was drunk with a take-out Chinese (which we both walked to collect, getting 2,000 steps or so). It has been an age since we had Chinese food, and I think it is the prawn crackers that I like the most. I had far more of the bottle than Claire, but I had done eighteen thousand steps. Have I mentioned that already?

Apple & Strawberry Wine - Second Bottle (4), 16th February 2019

This bottle accompanied an evening of games and hilarity. I took it to Ros's for a 'Games Evening', where we played Saboteur, Exploding Kittens, Bug in a Rug, Articulate and Blokus. All accompanied by cake and wine. In 'Articulate' Emma had to describe 'Rack' to me and all I could get was 'Breasts'. It took several minutes for the room to recover.

The wine was fabulous - even Alex, who has not been a fan of my wine in the past, thought so. It takes the best of both fruits, creating something refreshing and different.

Ros, Alex and Exploding Kittens

Julia's Wines: Elderflower 1993 - 16th February 2019

It has been a long time since we opened a bottle of Julia's ancient wines. When this one was being made, I was sitting my Law Society Finals and would not meet Claire for another two years.

I took the bottle to Ros's for an evening of Board Games and hilarity, and it was appropriate that Julia was represented. The wine looked beautiful and had an attractive scent. We all raised our glasses, toasted Julia, took a sip and poured the wine down the sink. It had not aged well.

Jasmine Tea Wine - Second Bottle (1), 13th-14th February 2019

Jasmine Tea Wine is the very definition of a mid-week bottle. Drinkable but not delicious and certainly not a treat. It is far better than pure Tea Wine, but the tea-flavour is still too strong, which creates a drying effect in the mouth. If I were to make this again (which seems unlikely) I would use half the quantity of tea.

Most the bottle was drunk on Wednesday, but we had enough left with which to celebrate Valentine's Day. Who says I'm not an old romantic?

The Jasmine Tea Wine

Rhubarb Wine 2015 - Eleventh Bottle (B6), 10th February 2019

This wine has not aged badly at all. It remains a light and crisp white that could pass for a wine made from grapes. We have drunk it to a fish curry and a game of Blokus - a tactical board game involving Tetris-shaped counters and a dash of evil.

Earlier in the day Claire and I went for a five mile (though I would argue, longer) walk around Tong and Fulneck. We haven't been walking just the two of us for an age and it was a pleasure to be in the fresh air. Muddier than expected, however. We both made the mistake of wearing trainers rather than walking boots and I suspect they will never recover.

This was just some of the mud encountered

Blackcurrant Wine - Fifth Bottle (B5), 9th February 2019

Claire was out on Saturday afternoon playing Dvorak in Menston, so I was on cooking duties. I briefly considered being adventurous before rejecting that idea in favour of Toad in the Hole. Sausages, after all, are hard to beat. And sausages require a red wine - hence a bottle of blackcurrant. This was sharp and blackcurranty, but 24 hours later, I can't remember a right lot about it. That could have something to do with the whisky macs (in the plural) that I poured myself beforehand.

We spent the evening curled up on the sofa watching a Lewis that I had not seen before.