Prune & Parsnip Wine - Eighth Bottle (B5), 24th-25th August 2013

I was all prepared to open a bottle of nasty Gooseberry & Elderflower wine when Claire reminded me that I had just played in a relatively stressful concert and therefore should treat myself to something I might want to drink. I am coming to the end of our August ration, and prune & parsnip was the best of what was left.

The concert was Madeleine's 50th birthday concert, where she had arranged for several friends to play a series of chamber music pieces. I played in a trio and a quintet. The trio was terrifying and I genuinely cannot tell whether it went well or not. The quintet was more fun, though I was shouted at by each member for starting it off about twice the speed than had been rehearsed. I blame the adrenalin, but most of a bottle of prune & parsnip wine helped bring things down.

(This recording is obviously not us, but it is one of the pieces we played)

Orange Wine - Sixth Bottle (A2), 22nd August 2013

Hurrah! The Great British Bake Off is back. For the only evening this week, Claire and I were both in. She spent much of the evening on viola practice and I made wine. And, when all this was done, I cracked open a bottle of orange and we settled down to watch amateur cooks bake cakes.

The Great British Bake Off is a lovely programme: even though it is a competion and someone gets eliminated at the end of every episode, there is no cruelty to it. Claire cried when the hopeless, lovable Toby got knocked out (mostly for making his angel cake with salt, not sugar) and decided she needed to get some sense of perspective. I suspect drinking a bottle of orange wine between us on a Thursday night contributed to the emotion.

Hopeless, lovable Toby

Crab Apple Wine - Fifth Bottle (C2), 18th August 2013

Sunday involved rather more drinking than was sensible. Rachel & Duncan came round for a prawn curry and a bottle of strawberry wine. However, there was also the last of a bottle of elderberry to finish and my (large) taster glasses of the Christmas Tutti Fruti that I had just bottled. After all of that we emptied this bottle of crab apple too and consequently I have been off the booze since (I am writing this on Wednesday). From what I remember, this was a particularly good crab apple and mixing it with a sparkling elderberry was a winning combination. Still, my impression of much of the night remains a blur - albeit one that is entirely positive. More Renoir than Monet.

More this ...

... than this

Strawberry Wine - First Bottle (3), 18th August 2013

I have been saving the first bottle of strawberry wine to share with Rachel and Duncan, seeing as they helped pick the fruit. They came round tonight, bringing prawn crackers, real wine and a box of mangos, and a glorious evening was had by all. My only complaint is that it is a Sunday. My head is spinning in the way it should only do on a Friday.

The wine was fabulous. Really rather special. Strawberry wine is always good, but I think this is one of my best. We polished it off before eating any more than the (home grown) salad starter, so of course I had to open another bottle. This may explain the rollercoaster room that I am currently experiencing.

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

Blackcurrant Wine 2013 - The Making Of ...

Blackcurrants and Stan

 This year has been an amazing one for blackcurrants. I noticed back in May that our three bushes were covered in flowers. Hitherto our blackcurrant harvest has been unimpressive. This year could not be more different. We have already used six and a half pounds and there is probably the same amount again in the freezer. I predict many jars of jam.

Our blackcurrants

I have been picking blackcurrants since late July and there are still some to go. These may be left for the birds, thought I wouldn't want our garden to become a soft fruit restaurant for pigeons.

I started the wine on Sunday, 18th August. Rachel came over with the blackcurrants she had harvested whilst Claire and I were at Rydal, and I supplemented these with those I had picked that day to make the weight up to three pounds. I put them in the bucket and poured over half a pint of boiling water to encourage them to defrost whilst Rachel, Duncan, Claire and I made merry and drank rather too much for a Sunday.

At some point that night, though I now cannot remember precisely when, I mashed the fruit and poured over a boiling syrup made up of three pounds of sugar dissolved in five-and-a-half pints of water. I left it overnight to cool and on Monday morning, setting my alarm 10 minutes early so I could do this and make my sandwiches, I added the yeast and a teaspoon each of pectolase and nutrient.

The liquid was strained into the demijohn on Thursday night, 22 August, while listening to a not-as-dull-as-it-sounds documentary about Gibraltar on Radio 4. Apparently cigarette smuggling is big business there. I left a large gap in the demijohn overnight, keeping some wine back in its own bottle. This was wise as the fermentation was initially aggressive. 24 hours later I have filled the demijohn to its neck and the wine's colour is that of a dark claret.

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

Elderberry Wine - First Bottle (B3), 17th-18th August 2013

Circumstances required me to open this bottle a whole month earlier than I would have ordinarily. I had little choice in the matter. The cork was giving every sign of about to shoot out the neck in spectacular fashion. I had a jug to hand as I opened the bottle, and this proved necessary. The wine exploded in firework style and I managed to catch all the liquid. There was much pink foam, fizzing away like a violent chemistry experiment.

The taste of this wine was acceptable, but it is clear this wine needs more time to mature. It is an elderberry alcopop, and I am worried that the other bottles will also have a tendency to detonate. Chances of it maturing are low.

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

Rhubarb & Elderflower Wine - Second Bottle (1), 12th August 2013

"Rather better than I had anticipated" is a common reaction to my wine.

I took this bottle to the Wands as Paul and family are over from Canada and Helen promised chocolate cake. Because I was driving I only had a small glass, but I made sure I had the first glass so I could manage expectations. Happily, this is a good bottle, and it looks delightful  - pink and bubbly. I think the Wands were genuinely impressed.

It was a lovely evening, and very noisy. Paul and Allie have four rambunctious children. Alexander and Ellie wanted to be around the adults. Adam and Alice did not. Alex is two years older than I was when I met Paul, which is hard to believe. I see a fair amount of Paul in him - not so much in looks, but in humour and interests. Just slightly geeky but with social grace too.