Exotic Tinned Fruit - Final Bottle, 23rd-24th November 2015

I had remembered this flavour as being somewhat nasty with a chemical aftertaste. It was therefore a surprise to discover that leaving the wine for over three and a half years from making made it more than palatable. This has reached the realms of "rather good", and it is a shame that there are no more bottles left.

I was on holiday when this was opened, just for a day. I spent it painting a ceiling. I can think of better ways to spend a day off. But the move date approaches (rapidly) and the more ceilings painted, the better.

Exotic Tinned Fruit - Eleventh Bottle (A6), 27th-28th May 2014

Ros came over for a meal last night and brought a bottle of real wine - made from grapes! - with her. That was our first bottle of the evening (after an abortive attempt to drink one of Julia's, which had set) and we moved onto Exotic Tinned Fruit once critical faculties were diminished.

Ros brought a new graphic novel for me to read, on the basis that I hated From Hell so much. This one is a work of art and comes in a large cardboard box. It is called Building Stories and is by Chris Ware. There are many, many books and pages and fold-out bits of cardboard that can be read in any order. It is innovative, and exciting just for that innovation, and I spent tonight and the last glass of wine reading my first segment. And truly enjoying it.

Exotic Tinned Fruit Wine - Tenth Bottle (B3), 26th-27th April 2014

I had expected this bottle to be nasty, but we had yet to have a bottle of it in April so I put it in the fridge for Saturday night. In fact it was rather better than expected - entirely drinkable with no distinguishing features. We drank it to a mushroom and gnocchi bake followed by a rhubarb trifle with lots of Croft Original Sherry. Claire's grandmother would have approved.

Rhubarb was a feature of the day - I started making 2014's Rhubarb Wine, which means there is a large bucket in the middle of the kitchen creating a tripping hazard.

Exotic Tinned Fruit Wine - Ninth Bottle (B4), 29th March 2014

This was the second bottle of the evening and we polished it off with no effort at all. Rachel & Duncan were here after our WYSO concert, and one bottle was never going to be enough. The first taste of this wine was dubious. too much of the 'chemical'. However, it got better as it went along. Some might argue that my tastebuds became less discerning.

Even ignoring the concert (which I thoroughly enjoyed) it has been a lovely evening. We discussed holidays - both the forthcoming one in the Lake District, and a potential one somewhere on mainland Europe in 2015. But now my eyelids are closing and I must go to sleep.

Exotic Tinned Fruit Wine - Eighth Bottle (B5), 5th-8th February 2014

Now that January has passed we can drink mid-week again. In fact, I paid less than lip-service to this rule, but Claire stuck to it. Therefore, this bottle was our first post-WYSO bottle of 2014. It has taken several days to finish, but that is not a comment on its quality. This wine is on the bland side of fine, with only a hint of exotic about it. It is more a comment on not having had a free evening. On Thursday I was coming back from April's funeral in Reading, which was emotionally very tough though I am extremely pleased I went. Friday was Book Group, where I rarely impose my wine. We were discussing The Rainbow, which I found tedious - too much thrusting and fecundity and far too little plot or dialogue. The wine was finished tonight, Saturday, as a prelude to roast chicken and an entire bottle of Blackberry.

Exotic Tinned Fruit - Seventh Bottle (A5), 18th-20th December 2013

We are in the last fortnight of the year and this means dark nights, hard work and too much alcohol. I am struggling at work to hit my targets - it will only be just a fail, but a fail nonetheless - and consequently am both busy and grumpy. Therefore, I drank a good deal of this bottle on Wednesday while rewatching Sherlock on i-player. We finished it off on Friday and I made up the alcohol gaps with a few stiff G & Ts. Friday night was nice, though, sat in front of the fire catching up with Claire and our respective weeks, listening to David Sedaris and eating a bring-round curry.

The wine was fine - maybe a little chemically with an aftertaste of bland - but it fulfilled its function.

Exotic Tinned Fruit - Sixth Bottle (A2), 20th-22nd November 2013

I have just watched a lovely drama about the creation of Doctor Who. 'Adventures in Space and Time' by Mark Gatiss. It was the story of Verity Lambert and William Hartnell, and was tremendously sad, loving and celebratory. This week I am in danger of a Doctor Who overdose, but I think that excusable on the fiftieth anniversary. And for me it is more important than the anniversary of Kennedy's assassination. I never really could get things into proper perspective.

Anyway, I finished this bottle of Exotic Tinned Fruit whilst watching 'Adventures' and it has not been a bad bottle at all. I shouldn't get carried away - it was less than actively delicious, but it was certainly acceptable for a three-night bottle.

Exotic Tinned Fruit - Fifth Bottle (B1), 23rd-24th October 2013

The last bottle of this flavour was so nasty that I have been putting off having another. However, I bit the bullet on Wednesday and put an exotic tinned fruit wine in the fridge before WYSO. I was pleasantly surprised when I opened it - the wine is not disgusting. At worst it is inoffensive. Light and floral and bland.

We drank most of the bottle to The Great British Bake Off final. I had spent the previous 24 hours avoiding all news and being selective with the internet. This policy was successful, which I had not predicted, and it made the programme better for it. And now my Wednesday nights are released from the tyranny of cosy yet addictive television. Hurrah.

Exotic Tinned Fruit - Fourth Bottle (B6), 7th August 2013

It is a rare occasion that a bottle of my wine ends up down the sink. This was one such occasion. When I put a cork in this bottle several months ago, my piece of string snapped and I left it dangling in the wine (held tightly by the cork) rather than redo the process. This proved to be a mistake. Wine somehow travelled up the string over time, leaving a fifth of the bottle empty. The resulting wine, whilst beautifully clear, was horrid. Really nasty. I could only drink one large glass.

"Let that be a lesson to us," I commented to Claire. She questioned the use of the first person plural. In future it is probably worth spending that extra ten pence on a new cork. Being miserly is not always a Good Thing.

Exotic Tinned Fruit - Third Bottle, 18th-19th June 2013

I was out on Tuesday night with Darren and Nigel, eating what the menu promised was 'The World's Hottest Curry'. When Darren suggested we try it I attempted to dissuade him, but collapsed under the argument "Where's your sense of adventure?". I did insist, though, that we only got a starter portion to share. In fact it was entirely edible. Either my tastebuds are shot to pieces or the menu was guilty of hyperbole.

Whilst I was experiencing this, Claire was experiencing Exotic Tinned Fruit Wine, and we finished it together on Wednesday after WYSO. I spent the time trying to recruit flutes and oboes, with varying degrees of success. The wine was good, though, and I think was the best bottle of this flavour so far.

The restaurant I was at

Exotic Tinned Fruit Wine - Second Bottle (B2), 4th May 2013

Ann did not like this bottle. She poured herself only a small glass, declared it tasted of chemicals and tipped the majority down the sink. Nick struggled with his, and Rachel and I coped rather better.

We have hired a cottage in the Forest of Dean and tonight is our first night here. It is a converted barn and is absolutely wonderful. The whole place is flooded with natural light, with a split level and open plan kitchen and living room. I have brought six bottles with me, of which this is the first. Whilst I take Ann and Nick's point, I think this flavour is alright - it is light and fruity and only tastes a bit of pear drops.

Exotic Tinned Fruit Wine - First Bottle (A1), 29th March 2013

Sooz is visiting this Easter weekend, so I thought I would treat her to the first bottle of a new batch of wine. It did not go according to plan. She described it as like "the juice from a tin of fruit cocktail with an undertone of mouthwash". I offered to finish her glass and this was gratefully accepted. Happily both Claire and I enjoyed this bottle and agreed that it is (even) better than the last batch of Exotic Tinned Fruit, though Sooz has a point that it is on the border of being too sweet. On the strength of this, though, I think that I will do this flavour again as my April wine this year. However, right now I must go to bed as despite it being not-yet-ten my lids are exceptionally heavy and my eyes keep crossing.

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If you want to read how I made this batch, click here

Exotic Tinned Fruit Wine - the Making of ...

The long Easter weekend always feels self-indulgent. It is four solid days of Sunday, where pottering about is as active as it gets. Today, 7th April, I have been out of the house once - to get the Guardian, and that mostly for the Araucaria crossword. Other than that I have been making soup and wine, and listening to the Classic FM 'Top 300 Pieces of Classical Music' countdown. Though I had to turn it off once it reached Walton's Crown Imperial, which must be the most dreadful piece of music ever written.

I decided that I would have another go at Exotic Tinned Fruit wine this month, and make it a double batch. I am a little worried, however, that I do not have quite enough fruit. There are 14 oz mangoes, 9 oz lychees, 8 oz guavas, and 8 oz combined Jack Fruit and Toddy Palm combined (neither of which I have ever even heard of) together with two pints of syrup. Actually that sounds really low on fruit. Too late now.

The tins of fruit with Claire in the background

I had to look up 'Jack Fruit' on Wikipedia, and other than seeing that it exists and is a large, starchy fruit, I am not really any the wiser. I had a small tast of both it and the Toddy Palm (which Claire pointed out looked worryingly like squid rings) and both were pleasant, tasting of generic exotic fruit.

Spot the Squid Rings

All - fruit and syrup - went into the bucket, I mashed it and then added 12 pints of boiling water and 4 1/2 pounds of sugar. This is less than I would usually add for a double batch, but each fruit came in its own syrup and the initial gravity reading of 1.090 is about right. I put in the yeast plus 1 1/2 teaspoons of nutrient, 1 teaspoon of pectolase and 1/2 teaspoon of amylase on Sunday morning after about ninety minutes of washing up. Ninety! Count them. (We had a splendid meal last night and Claire is busily making pork pies as I write.)

I put all this into its two demijohns on 11th April. It is all a fabulous colour on the borderline between yellow and orange. I suspect there will be a large deposit. The amount of water was not quite right - another pint and a half would have been perfect, but I shall fill it up next time I do any wine making stuff.