Mixed Flower & Nettle Wine - Second Bottle (1), 5th August 2021

This wine was unexpectedly popular at Rydal, and of the three that I took, this was the one most enjoyed. Francesca said that it was the best wine of mine that she has tried - though I think her experience is limited. Someone compared it to a Chardonnay, and I am suspicious of their palate.

Thursdays at Rydal tend to be the day that "Too much fun" catches up with you - and so it proved for me. I didn't do any walking (mind you, the weather had broken), but there was still plenty of music, including Dvorak's 8th Symphony, a Beethoven overture and March to the Scaffold

Too Much Fun at Rydal

Elderberry Wine - Seventh Bottle (A3), 20th January 2019

This was a post-concert bottle. Airedale Symphony Orchestra played Roman Carnival by Berlioz, Beethoven's Violin Concerto and Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony in Saltaire. The concert went well, but for me it will be remembered as 'The one where I had a coughing fit'. I was trying my best to supress a cough during the violinist's cadenza and ended up turning purple, nearly choking with tears streaming down my face. It was awful. Anyway, back at home I restored myself with a bottle of elderberry wine - which is particularly fine, and a venison sausage and red cabbage casserole.

A view from the stand, during the rehearsal

Xmas Tutti Fruti - Seventh Bottle (B6), 2nd December 2018

I needed Sunday. Whilst the previous week at work had been a busy one, Saturday was manic. It was the WYSO concert (Siegfried Idyll, Mendelssohn's Piano Concert No. 1 and Beethoven 6) and when I wasn't playing, I was organising things (keys, gifts for the soloist, rearranging the church, tea and coffee). The concert went brilliantly and we drank a bottle of real wine to celebrate. Consequently, Sunday was quiet and restful. I finished by book (The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner - excellent), did crosswords and ordered roses for the garden. Oh, and drank a bottle of Christmas Tutti Fruti, which is one of my better batches - as fruity as the name implies.

Blackcurrant & Gooseberry Wine - Fifth Bottle (3), 13th-14th November 2018

This bottle was shared between Tuesday and Wednesday nights where very little happened. I chose Blackcurrant & Gooseberry as one that will not appear at the Wine Party and it was a tasty choice.

On Tuesday evening we watched an old and ridiculous (is there any other sort?) Midsomer Murders and on Wednesday we had an entirely satisfactory WYSO rehearsal. The concert is not far off and we are beginning to sound like we mean it when we play Beethoven's Sixth.

Rose Petal & Orange Wine - Second Bottle (5), 24th-25th October 2018

Wednesday evening was dominated by Beethoven. We are playing his Sixth Symphony at WYSO, and it is a long, high blow for first bassoon. By the end of the evening my lip had collapsed and a restorative glass of wine was welcome. Rose petal & orange is a great mix: complex and interesting. Towards the end of my glass I added a dash of whisky and I thought that worked too (though Claire tried it and disagreed).

On Thursday we finished the bottle to The Great British Bake Off's semi-final - which had been ruined for me earlier in the day by a colleague who revealed the result. I told him "Actually, I'm very cross about that". He is only new to the firm, and young - so maybe I overreacted.

Rose Petal Wine - First Bottle (B6), 23rd-24th July 2018

I am pleased with this vintage of rose petal wine. It is lacking the bitter hint of 2016's batch and is light, refreshing and distinctive. A beautiful pale orangey-pink too. It being the summer with no regular orchestras, I opened it on a Monday evening and we finished it tonight. The summer is not without its music, however. On Sunday night we were playing a concert of Beethoven 3 (his best symphony) on remarkably little rehearsal. Josh, the conductor, got a nose bleed at the beginning of the second movement, which was more than a little distracting.

NB - I'm away now on my holidays, so there won't be a post for at least a week. Have a good one.

Rose Petal Wine - Fourth Bottle (C1), 15th October 2017

This rose petal wine is splendid. The colour and clarity cannot be criticised, and the taste is delightful. Floral and exotic. It has been our treat after a concert full of Fifth Symphonies (Beethoven and Mendelssohn), where the audience failed to clap after the end of Mendelssohn's. I think this is because they hadn't realised it had ended, rather than we played it badly (which we did not!). Since the concert, Claire and I have drunk the wine, chatting companionably in the front room. It has been a lovely evening.

Prune & Parsnip Wine - Ninth Bottle (A2), 21st-22nd January 2017

On both Saturday and Sunday nights, when drinking wine from this bottle, there was a sense of relief of a concert having gone rather better than it ought.

Saturday was Music Club, when I played with Pat & Peter - trios by Tim New. The composer turned up (which added to the stress somewhat). We played far better than I had expected and as well as I had hoped, and Prune & Parsnip (another double P) was drunk in the adrenalin come-down.

On Sunday it was the turn of Airedale - where each of the pieces (including Beethoven's Fifth) was under-rehearsed. We got away with it, though, and another glass of Prune & Parsnip went down the hatch.

Blackcurrant Wine - Fifth Bottle (B4), 10th December 2016

This bottle was our reward for a concert well-played. WYSO performed Temper by Diana Burrell, Beethoven's 3rd Piano Concerto and Brahms' Third Symphony. It all went extremely well - I think I only hit one wrong note in the first half (though plenty in the second) and I have not been as thrilled by a performance for an age. I am still on a high the morning after.

We got through the blackcurrant wine with undue haste, given only the merest of help by my mother. It was a wonderful evening.

Elderflower Wine - Eleventh Bottle (A2), 20th-21st April 2016

I opened this bottle after our first WYSO rehearsal for the summer term. Mostly we are playing crowd-pleasing medleys (James Bond, Phantom of the Opera) but there is some real music too: Beethoven's Fifth, Night on a Bare Mountain.

I drank a couple of glasses while finding clips of Victoria Wood on i-player. Generally I am only vaguely interested when a celebrity dies, but I am genuinely upset about Victoria Wood. She was so funny, so talented and provided such a distinctive northern voice. It is too early for her to die.

Prune & Parsnip Wine - First Bottle (A3), 8th-11th February 2015

After I had bottled and shared round my rose petal wine, it was decided that I should open another bottle. Prune & Parsnip was an ideal choice - I had spent much of the evening making 2015's batch.

This wine is remarkably consistent: it always has the same dark golden colour and a sweet sherry taste. Both of these are Good Things.

After Sunday, we spent the next three days drinking a little at a time. On Wednesday, we drank the last of the wine after WYSO, where we played Mendelssohn's violin concerto - a glorious piece of music. The soloist came, and he is the same man who played the Beethoven with us in 2013. The Mendelssohn has been on my internal jukebox ever since.

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

Prune & Parsnip - Eleventh Bottle (A5), 27th-29th November 2013

Most of this bottle was drunk in Wednesday night after WYSO. We have just started a new programme, the main piece of which is Franck's Symphony in D minor. It is a dense, soupy piece where the bassoons take a back seat and mostly double each other. Still, it can't all be Beethoven's violin concerto.

Claire and I drank our wine in the kitchen, chatting about her possible redundancy. This is all worrying and frustrating - particularly because she has just had three papers published (click on the link for one of them). The wine helps things a little, and it is a good bottle. More rounded than the last one.

Cesar Franck

Christmas Tutti Fruti - Eleventh Bottle (B2), 16th November 2013

Saturday was a two bottle night. It could be no other. Partly this was because Rachel and Duncan were around. Mostly, though, it was because we had just played an all-Beethoven concert with WYSO in Chapel Allerton. It went exceptionally well, and I got my own applause for the violin concerto. The night had to be rounded off with plenty of alcohol.

I don't really remember the taste of this bottle - and that is not just because I followed it with a horseradish vodka chaser. Dry, red and fizzy is about as close as I can get. But it was a wonderful evening, and I still get a buzz three days later when I think about it.

Rhubarb Wine - Seventh Bottle (A6), 16th November 2013

Well, I played a blinder tonight. It was our Beethoven concert with WYSO and the violin concerto could not have gone better. I was pretty much note perfect. The soloist stood me up at the end for my own applause, and more than three hours later I am still buzzing about it. Along with Leonora Overture Number 2 and Symphony Number 3, this was a bassoon heavy concert, and my lip was dead by the end. My left hand and wrist went into a cramp spasm during the interval, which was worrying, but recovered quickly.

At home afterwards Claire, Rachel, Duncan and I polished off a bottle of rhubarb wine in no time at all. It was just the thing, but not nearly enough. I have rectified that, however, and am about to collapse into unconciousness.

Gooseberry & Elderflower Wine - Fourth Bottle (B5), 6th-13th November 2013

The length of time an open bottle of wine sits in the fridge is generally an indication of its quality. This one managed a week. At least it was not poured down the sink. Claire suggested the addition of a sugar syrup to make it better, and this was partially successful, but only partially. The wine has an overbearing sense of mustiness and little taste of its original ingredients. There are still eight bottles to go.

I opened it after a WYSO rehearsal, where we played through most of Beethoven's violin concerto with our soloist, James Pattinson, who is exceedingly good. The bottle was finished after the following week's rehearsal where we played through all of Beethoven's third symphony. These two pieces are currently on my internal juke box and make it difficult to sleep.

James Pattinson

Rhubarb Wine - Fifth Bottle (B4), 4th-6th September 2013

WYSO has begun again, with a triple helping of Beethoven - Leonora Number 2, the violin concerto and his third symphony. Equally as good, we appear to have a double bass - something that WYSO has always lacked. We spent the evening on the symphony, and consequently I had that playing on my internal jukebox for hours on Wednesday night when I should have been asleep.

Once Claire and I got home we cracked open a bottle of rhubarb and, despite the late hour, caught up on The Great British Bake Off. Showing uncharacteristic self-control, we left enough in the bottle for Thursday (which I spent wine-making) and for a glass on Friday. I came home in a very bad mood and the remaining glass went some way to lifting it.

WYSO in uncharacteristic surroundings

Blackberry Wine - Seventeenth Bottle (B1), 30th July 2013

Today has officially been an Excellent Day. We are in Rydal, nearly half way through the week, and I have completed my cycle of Beethoven symphonies. I played my first (which was also his first) in either 1984 or 1985, and I have played my ninth (which is his second) today, at least 28 years later. Not only that, I have also played Brahms' second and climbed Loughrigg in the sunshine.

A view from Loughrigg

A bottle of blackberry wine is the right one to mark the occasion - it is my favourite home made wine, and this bottle reinforced my opinion. Light and fizzy and fruity.

I shared it with several of those around me and all were sufficiently impressed (I think). Kirsty earned her glass for buying me a blackcurrant icecream earlier in the day. We both felt we had done well out of the deal.

Prune & Parsnip Wine - Sixth Bottle (B2), 10th-12th June 2013

This bottle has been strangely better than the last few of this flavour. It has a definite taste of sherry - a point made by Rosie who arrived on Tuesday and is staying to observe a Leeds school as part of her forthcoming 'Teach First' teacher training.

I sneaked a glass of this on Monday after Airedale, believing that it would be the only taste I would get. I had imagined that Claire and Rosie would finish the rest between them on Tuesday whilst I was out in Ilkley playing wind quintets. However, Rosie is far too polite and well behaved for that, and indeed she did not try any until Wednesday night, when we returned from WYSO. It was a good evening - the first movement of Beethoven's Fifth is starting to work. Then getting home and chatting to Rosie about the extended family was just lovely.

Crab Apple Wine - Third Bottle (B2), 5th-6th June 2013

We came back from WYSO on Wednesday humming The Sound of Music, which Nick describes as 'the Stepford Wives of musicals'. As part of our upcoming Pontefract Castle concert (300 tickets sold so far - yikes), we are playing a school arrangement of this, and it is relentlessly jaunty. Nick has promised that next week we will end with something more sophisticated. Mozart's 40th, perhaps. A glass of crab apple wine afterwards helped remove some of the sugar.

We finished the bottle on Thursday after I returned from a WYSO committee meeting. Lots of exciting things are planned for next year, including an all Beethoven programme, something Edwardian and light, and a concert dedicated to the letter F to celebrate the Tour de France. Bizarrely, in 2014 this will start in that well known French city and centre of all that is Gallic - Leeds.

A Photo from our concert at Pontefract Castle last year

Prune & Parsnip Wine 2013 - The Making Of ...

The raw ingredients

On the strength of one bottle of Prune & Parsnip 2012, this flavour has been promoted to an annual. This could be a mistake, if I take "Gooseberry & Elderflower" as an example. The single batch of that which I made in 2011 was wonderful. I have just bottled 2012's vintage and it is a disaster. Knowing what I did wrong would be useful.

I was in two minds about starting this wine today, 3rd February, because it has been a busy afternoon. Claire and I spent it with WYSO at Wakefield Girls' School, where the heating was firmly switched to 'Off', playing Beethoven's violin concerto to sixth formers. This is my favourite of violin concertos, amongst stiff competition, mostly because it has such a good bassoon part. And the highlight of the afternoon was discovering Sarah is pregnant - due date 14th September, which is the day she had already booked to get married. One day she will see this as an anecdote, and as a reason to cancel a wedding it is one of the best. She has yet to tell her family.

Anyway, once home and having done the washing up, I chopped up four pounds (ish - I didn't measure very carefully) of parsnips into small pieces and put them into our largest pan. These were covered with seven pints of water and put on the hob to boil. I chopped just over a pound of prunes and put these in my bucket with six pounds of sugar.

After having bottled and corked 12 bottles of wine (see above), I drained the parsnips into the bucket, discarding the vegetable (actually, some of it is in the freezer). I worry that I did not boil it for long enough. The pieces of parsnip were soft, but still tasted distinctly of parsnip. I then boiled another seven pints of water and poured this into the bucket too. This was all left overnight and on Monday morning, 4th February, I put in the yeast and nutrient, amylase and pectolase (approximately one teaspoon of each). The amylase is now finished, but had a 'Best Before Date' of September 2007.

I put the liquid into its two demijohns on Friday evening, 8th February. It is fermenting aggressively, and therefore probably just as well that I could have added an extra pint and a half of water in the initial stages.

Aggressive Fermentation

If you want to see how this wine turned out (and it was good), click here