Blackberry Wine 2020 - Eighth Bottle (A5), 19th November 2021

The second I walked through the door, Claire handed me a glass of blackberry wine. It was quarter past seven and it had been a long, intense day at work. I have much of the coming week on holiday - mostly to avoid losing days from my annual allowance - and so I wanted to leave the office having done everything required. When I turned off my computer there was not a single email in my in-box, which is an unusual state of affairs. The blackberry wine was hugely welcome and this is a fine vintage with hints of real wine.

On 18th November, I made a Christmas Pudding.
These are some of the ingredients.

Blackberry Wine 2020 - Seventh Bottle (A2), 2nd October 2021

On the dankest of Saturdays I have been out in the rain thrice. The first two were to buy provisions for the coming week. The last was to check if the local garage was selling petrol. We are in the midst of a fuel shortage because (thanks to Brexit - the gift that keeps on giving) there are not enough lorry drivers. And as soon as the Government says "Please don't panic buy", everyone does. There have been queues of traffic at any open garage for the last week. On Saturday evening I joined that queue (short, when I was there) and celebrated my success at home with a bottle of Blackberry Wine, a lamb curry and an episode of The Bridge.

Taken on 2 October - the result of a 
startled cat after I sneezed.

Blackberry Wine 2020 - Sixth Bottle (A3), 19th September 2021

Blackberry Wine feels like a proper Sunday night bottle. One that you can relax into like a favourite sofa. It had been a gentle weekend full of entirely pleasurable nothing much. On Sunday that involved walking the suburbs of North Leeds in search of elderberries and making both bread and a ginger & marmalade cake (note to self: the marmalade was a flavour too far). Then in the evening we had a Padian chicken curry, drank this wine and watched The Crown. The curry involved me sucking on a chili by mistake. Emergency yoghurt was required.

Ginger & Marmalade Cake

 

Blackberry Wine 2020 - Fifth Bottle (C2), Mid-August 2021

Claire had this bottle whilst I was in the Brecon Beacons with Rachael & Myles. She says that she has written it up in her diary and hopes that this is Good Enough. It isn't really, but it is also clear that she won't write it up in this one. I think she had a reasonable week whilst I was away - plenty of Midsomer Murders and RuPaul's Drag Race I understand

Rachael in the Brecon Beacons

Blackberry Wine 2019 - Fifteenth Bottle (B3), 30th August 2021

Blackberry wine was the natural choice of wine after a day spent picking brambles for 2021's batch. The wine was delicious and bursting with bramble flavour. Rather better than the vegetarian moussaka I made to accompany it, which, despite its vegetarian credentials, would have benefitted greatly from a chicken stock cube. The rest of the evening was spent watching The Crown and then reading A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, which is witty and beautifully written. One of those books that manages to be engaging despite a paper-thin plot.

A grave from which I picked brambles

Blackberry Wine 2019 - Fourteenth Bottle (A5), 6th August 2021

I was disappointed with this blackberry - there was something earthy in its flavour and it was not sufficiently sweet. Of the three bottles that I took to Rydal I had expected this to be the best and it clearly was not. I was glad to have it, however: the bar was shut and a sober last night would have been more than unfortunate.

Friday had my musical highlight of the week - playing the Poulenc Trio with Matt and Jane. We worked at the middle movement and we sounded glorious. That is near literally blowing my own trumpet.

Nick on a damp walk near Rydal Hall

Blackberry Wine 2020 - Third Bottle (B3), 10th July 2021

This bottle would have been another exploder, but this time I caught it with the cork protruding upwards and bunged it in the fridge. Two days later, Saturday, the wine remained safely in its container so I removed the cork and we drank the lot. I don't think 'fizzy' adds to the whole red wine experience, but otherwise this was a decent bottle of wine.

The day was uneventful, save that I played BATHROOM on a triple word score in my weekly Scrabble session (98 points, thank you very much) and ordered a mini-freezer for this year's excess fruit.

Raspberries ripening in our garden 

Blackberry Wine 2020 - Third Bottle (B4), 23rd June 2021

I am a fool. Last bottle of Blackberry 2020, I was smugly pleased about noticing the corking inching towards explosion. Any sensible winemaker would then put all bottles of the same vintage upright, thus minimising the chance of detonation and mess. Not me. Hence, on Wednesday morning I discovered our dining room floor covered in sticky red liquid. I briefly wondered what Wiggy had slaughtered before realising what it was. There was one large glass left in the bottle which Claire and I shared that evening. This would have been an excellent wine.

Our food that evening - Involtini (delicious)

Blackberry Wine 2020 - Second Bottle (B1), 9th-10th June 2021

When choosing a wine on Wednesday, I noticed this one had its cork part of the way out. It was stored on its side, so emergency action was required. There was a small 'pop' as I opened it, but the wine did not explode out of the bottle. Its taste was excellent, though, and it took all self control not to finish it then and there. Claire had the rest on Thursday - the Feast of St Ithamar - whilst I was at Pat & Peter's for the first time in 16 months to play trios. It was so good to be there again and, against all expectations, it was musically satisfying too.

The Feast of St Ithamar

Blackberry Wine - Thirteenth Bottle (A6), 12th-13th May 2021

Sausages, mash, onion gravy and blackberry wine - a winning combination. Claire's day involved five blood samples to analyse for a Covid 19 research project, and therefore most of a bottle of wine on a Wednesday was her reward. We shared the remaining glass on Thursday after I had returned from Madeleine's quintet. Though indoor restrictions end on Monday, they are currently still in force, so we played under Madeleine's car port for an hour, hoping the neighbours were forgiving souls.

Taken on 12 May in Gledhow Valley Woods

Blackberry Wine 2019 - Twelfth Bottle (A3), 28th April 2021

This bottle came at the end of a day's holiday which had involved a walk round the rural parts of Bingley (yes, there are some), Ethiopian leftovers, and being propositioned by a man on the Leeds-Liverpool canal. I was graceful in my decline (I hope) and somewhat flattered.

The blackberry wine finished off the day nicely - it is a great bottle, full of juice - but did mean that neither Claire nor I could concentrate on a subtitled television programme.

Bingley Five Locks - on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal

Blackberry Wine 2019 - Eleventh Bottle (C4), 26th-27th March 2021

Blackberry 2019, on the strength of this bottle, is a fine vintage. It is a wine that is deep and round and delicious. Therefore it is unusual, and shows remarkable restraint, that we have stretched it out over two nights. Friday was a result of having too much to drink on Thursday. Tonight, though, has been Decided By Claire. I quite fancy a whiskey but we have had a Manhattan already and she is probably right. Claire would replace "Probably" with "Definitely"

Our Rhubarb is starting to come through.

Blackberry Wine 2020 - First Bottle (C3), 13th-15th March 2021

On the strength of this bottle, 2020 was a good year for blackberries. This was everything that blackberry wine should be: rich, smooth, a hint of sweetness and full of bramble flavour. It was also a bottle drunk immediately after it was bottled, and this was because the string snapped a second time and wasting more than two corks seemed excessive.

Half of the bottle accompanied The Blues Brothers which (shockingly) I had never seen. Lots of fun and hyper-cool. It has not aged badly at all - with its best attribute being its sound track, but with the most ridiculous car chase running it a close second.

Taken on 15 March

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

Blackberry Wine 2019 - Tenth Bottle (A2), 26th February 2021

A beer, a Negroni and a bottle of blackberry wine on a Friday night do not make a particularly joyful Saturday morning. However, they seemed like a good idea at the time. It had been a difficult couple of days at work - not bad at all; in fact more interesting than most - and drinking to excess was a way to close off the week. The wine was no more than okay - Claire described it as a disappointing red. It led to an entirely sober Saturday, which is distinctly unusual, but was needed.

Catkins - taken on my morning walk

Blackberry Wine 2019 - Ninth Bottle (C1), 11th-12th February 2021

It turns out that making stew is really easy. You just put some meat and vegetables in a pot with enough water to cover and then let it cook on the hob for a couple of hours. To mark my new found skill (which was an Irish stew with dumplings) we drank half a bottle of blackberry wine, which is the correct wine for a peasant's meal. The rest was finished on Friday before Book Group, which was an entertaining discussion on Parade's End - a huge book with which I have struggled and not enjoyed.

Patterns in the Ice - taken on 11 February

Blackberry Wine 2019 - Eighth Bottle (B5), 23rd January 2021

I dug out a bottle of Orange 2016 for Saturday night, but on one sip that was rejected and Claire requested something nice. Blackberry wine satisfied that job description and helped round off a gentle yet enjoyable Saturday. I turned the remaining bit of the Sicilian Lemon & Orange Cake into a fabulous bread & butter pudding and our Snarkalong Film Club was Galaxy Quest. This was charming and funny and sweet natured, and it appealed to the barely-hidden science-fiction geek within.

Wiggy, looking as if 
butter wouldn't melt

Blackberry Wine 2019 - Seventh Bottle (B1), 28th December 2020

The period between Christmas and New year has an individual feel. It is one of enforced idleness - and that is far from being the same as 'boredom'. The days stretch out and are filled with gentle activities. As with the two previous days, I spent my time on jigsaws (two), a gingerbread house and a moderate walk (one of each). Also, this bottle of wine, which was earthy in its brambleness, drunk to a fabulous duck cassoulet and and episode of The Queen's Gambit, which is a very 'Now' thing to watch. Who'd have thought that a drama about chess would be quite so engrossing?

The Gingerbread House (plus scaffolding)

Blackberry Wine 2018 - Tenth Bottle (B2), 17th-19th December 2020

Thursday was very nearly a whole bottle of wine night. I finished work at 7:30, having ended with a fractious meeting about an £8m purchase of land in Calderdale that had been stuffed with bad temper and awkward silences. Therefore, most of a bottle between the two of us did not feel excessive. And it is a good one - there is a reason that bramble wine is one of my very favourites. 

Tonight we finished the remainder in a mix with sloe gin - and that works brilliantly. It transforms a good wine into an excellent one with distinct hints of port.

Another Advent Window - this
time in Chapel Allerton

Blackberry Wine 2019 - Sixth Bottle (A1), 22nd November 2020

It has been a delightful, domestic Sunday. In the morning I made a marmalade & yoghurt cake - not an unmitigated triumph (the texture is weird and rubbery) but it tastes acceptable. In the evening I made a goulash which, apart from the sour cream curdling, was excellent. All washed down with a bottle of blackberry wine. 

Claire spent her day making a faux stained glass panel depicting the lifecycle of a frog.

Claire's panel

Blackberry Wine 2019 - Fifth Bottle (C3), 4th-5th November 2020

This is being written three days after we finished the bottle under discussion, which is always a mistake. I cannot, therefore, remember its taste but I imagine that it was a great deal like blackberry wine. 

On Wednesday I was fretting about the American election, as I was on Thursday, but not quite so hopelessly. I cannot understand how a man with so little grace, who is so blatant in his lying, bullying and self-centredness can remain as popular as he is. "Darth Vader? Sure, I'll vote for him."

Taken on 5th November on my morning walk