Blackcurrant & Raspberry Wine - Fourth Bottle (A5), 12th March 2016

Eastern Europe was the theme of Saturday's Feast. Ros, Alex, Vicky and Emma came to ours - partly to eat lots of wonderful food and partly to examine the new house. Christian & Kate were invited but have split up (about which I am very sad) and neither came.

The food was, indeed, wonderful. We started with blinis and all sorts of exciting accompaniments mostly bought from a Polish shop (pink, salty fish-eggs are nasty). Next was a clear beetroot soup, followed by Bigos - apparently the national Polish dish with more meat than is sensible, including a spicy Polish sausage. We finished with Dobos Torte. Against all this, the wine was unremarkable, and in fact that was delicious too.

Half a Dobos Torte

Elderberry Wine - Sixth Bottle (A-something), 14th March 2015

This bottle sat unopened on Christian and Kate's mantelpiece, and is probably still there. I brought it to the Feast in Hebden Bridge, but more wine would have been a mistake. I have written in my post below about that, though, and the other exciting thing about Saturday is that we may have seen a house to buy. It is on Bentcliffe Drive, is a little bit ugly in an interesting, quirky way, has a large(ish) blank canvas garden and feels like it might be right. Now I can expect several nights of interrupted sleep as I feel just a little bit excited.

Julia's Wine - Redcurrant 1995, 14th March 2015

This was a thin, sherry-like wine, and more than that I cannot remember. Oh, there were large lumps in the bottle, which meant the wine was not finished. The reason that I struggle to remember is that we were having a Feast at Christian and Kate's, and between us had drunk far too much wine already. Certainly the six of us had polished off three bottles of Prosecco before the starter. It was a wonderful evening with fabulous food and great company. However, it all remains a bit of a blur.

Julia's Wines - Elderflower 1993, 7th February 2015

Not one of Julia's best. This wine was drinkable but was thin and not very interesting. The elderflower taste was hardly there. I apologised to Julia (in absentia) as I reached for the Prosecco instead. The evening as a whole was fantastic, though. Claire cooked many curries and we feasted with Ros, Emma, Christian and Kate. There was much laughter, plenty to drink and we ended the night playing Ex Libris. Which I won convincingly (he said, smugly). Claire and I did not get to bed until well past midnight, and that never happens. We already setting dates for the next get together.

Crab Apple & Strawberry Wine - Second Bottle (4), 7th February 2015

I have just counted up. We got through seven bottles last night. Between six of us. No wonder my head is pounding. This Crab Apple & Strawberry was one of the early ones and the only one of mine. The occasion was a Feast for Julia - or at least for six of those who miss her. As well as us two, there was Ros, Emma, Christian and Katie.

We drank this bottle to the starters, which were puris filled with spicy potatoes and tamarind sauce, and a savoury cake made with yoghurt and gram flour, topped with chillies, coriander and mustard seeds. This was a tantalising hint for the food to come.

The crab apple & strawberry was a good bottle - dry and interesting, and I was gratified to see the guests having a second glass.

Rhubarb Wine - Eighth Bottle (A1), 5th-7th February 2015

I had three days without alcohol and then ruined everything on Thursday by drinking nearly half a bottle of rhubarb wine. I mistimed the haggis, and as poor excuses go that is one of the worst. But it meant that I had a glass during the additional cooking time (haggises require one hour, not half as I had thought) as well as with the meal. Then half a glass settling down to watch Broadchurch.

We finished this bottle on Saturday, just before Katie and Christian were due to arrive for a Feast. There were still Things To Do and only 15 minutes in which to do them. A swift glass of rhubarb could only help.

Strawberry Wine - First Bottle (2), 19th July 2014

Yet another fine batch of strawberry wine. It is dry and light, takes well to being chilled and tastes strongly of strawberries. An unqualified success.

I only had one glass from this bottle, and that was on strict instruction to Claire, Christian and Katie that they leave me some on my return from a concert with the Yorkshire Icon Orchestra. Had I not made this request I suspect I would have come back to an empty bottle.

The concert was at least half an hour too long (some might argue that 10 minutes would have been sufficient) but at least I got to play A Policeman's Lot which is always Good Fun. And I got to stay up till midnight drinking mohitos and eating cheese.

Not a happy one (happy one)

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

Julia's Wine - Gooseberry (?) of Unknown Vintage, 19th July 2014

This bottle had neither flavour nor year marked upon it. I checked that it was still liquid and took it with us to Christian and Katie's in Hebden Bridge. They have a wonderful house, looking north over the town and to a hill with dry stone-walled fields and a Victorian mill. If it wasn't for the commute, I would move to Hebden Bridge in an instant.

We drank a toast to Julia, and the wine was really very good. I think it was gooseberry - it had a similar taste to the first of her's that we opened. Sherry-like. This was my second glass of the evening, at which point I staggered off to play in a concert. It was the sort of concert where a pissed bassoonist could only help.

Hebden Bridge Centre

Blackcurrant - Bottle 3, 28th August 2011

Christian is leaving for Saffron Waldren this week to become 'Artist in Residence' at a Quaker Boarding School, so Julia cooked a 'Goodbye and Good Luck' Feast for eight. This bottle of Blackcurrant was the first of far too many drunk, and it really is one of my best.

The food was grand and the company convivial. Towards the end of the night Julia and I disappeared into her cellar and came back up clutching bottles labelled 'Pear 93', 'Raspberry 92' and 'Gooseberry 76'. I have never drunk a bottle of wine comfortably into its mid-thirties. It had matured into a dry sherry and there was no hint of its original fruit. The Raspberry was non-descript, and I am pleased to report that the Pear was nasty.