Rhubarb Wine 2021 - First Bottle (1), 9th January 2022

This could be the best rhubarb wine that I have made. It is light, refreshing and has a pleasant fruity taste. Its colour is the palest of pinks and it is absolutely clear. Unusually, it is rather better than the Rhubarb, elderflower and mint that I bottled today as well.

My day was one of pottering and wine making and was exactly how I wanted to spend Sunday. In the evening Claire served a sausage and bean casserole with roast Jerusalem artichokes and mash, and we continued with The Killing (which holds up well on second viewing). During this I adulterated the last of the rhubarb wine with the last of the ginger wine. The ginger was dominant, but it was a good mix.

The Rhubarb Wine (I think - possibly Ginger!)

Ginger Wine 2021 - Second Bottle (4), 8th-9th January 2022

There is a reason that the last time I performed with Alan and Audrey at Leeds Music Club I came away swearing "Never again". I was reminded of that reason on Saturday night where, against my better judgment, I performed with Alan and Audrey at Leeds Music Club. Never again. We were playing humorous and relatively straightforward arrangements of The Nutcracker. Within three bars of starting, Audrey was lost and playing notes from several bars ahead. Alan and I ploughed on as best we could until we recognised where she was and joined up with her. A bottle of wine couldn't come soon enough. This hit the spot splendidly.

 

Wiggy on 8th January

Ginger Wine 2021 - First Bottle (1), 7th-14th October 2021

I opened this bottle of ginger wine very quickly after rejecting a bottle of Apple & Strawberry as being simply unpleasant. This wine, though, is excellent. Perhaps it is just that little bit sweet, but the ginger flavour fights through that. It would be a fabulous base for a whisky mac.

The only reason that it stayed open for so long was that on the few nights we weren't out, we drank real wine. One of those nights was Book Group round our house where we discussed Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell. Beautifully written and an overall Hit.

Taken on 7th October

Ginger Wine 2020 - Fourth Bottle (5), 17th September 2021

Friday night is Take Out night. Sometimes. At least it was this Friday, and we had a Chinese: Salt & Pepper Tofu, Crispy Chilli Beef and Prawn Crackers - all excellent. A bottle of ginger wine seemed like the right choice (though I went for a bottle of 2021's vintage - which I suspect is better - and missed). This wine is very slightly cloying, but not in a "too sweet" way. It was the end of my first week back at the office and on the whole I am glad to have returned, seeing actual people!

The view from my office window

Ginger Wine 2020 - Third Bottle (1), 18th June 2021

Baked fish requires a citrus wine, and ginger very nearly fulfills that role. The wine was perhaps a little robust, but there was no struggle involved in finishing it. Nor in finishing the current book: Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty. I picked this up from one of the Little Free Libraries dotted around Leeds, expecting it to be trashy, badly written yet fun. It only matched the last of those - perhaps not Great Literature but extremely engaging and written with knowing humour. It was not what I expected - more Romance Structure and less Murder Mystery than anticipated.

Ginger Wine 2020 - Second Bottle (2), 14th March 2021

The second Sunday in the month is now when we have a virtual dinner party with Rachel & Duncan. Our March menu was Prawn Khampel, supplied by Padian Foods. Zoom was switched on at 6 and we began cooking. Early on in the process I opened a bottle of ginger wine. The curry was superb - one of the best that we have had from Padian, and distinctly Thai. I also enjoyed the wine - a white wine with a jab of ginger and lemon, though Claire was less enthusiastic. It was a lovely evening, again - and it did not feel as if we were socially distanced by 150 miles.

A cake I made on 14th March (not a cow pat)

Ginger Wine 2018 - Final Bottle (5), 23rd February 2021

Tuesdays should not be a full-bottle night, but Claire returned from work in such a foul mood that anything else would be unthinkable. After plying her with wine and cooking a quiche, all became so much more right with the world.

We finished the evening watching Lupin on Netflix - an entertaining French Crime Thriller, stylishly done. Otherwise, it was an entirely unremarkable Tuesday. Oh, this ginger wine is lovely - it has a bite to it.

Snowdrops in our garden

Ginger Wine 2021 - The Making Of...

Saturday 9th January began as one of those bitterly cold sunlit days which is the best sort of winter day. Friday's snow had turned from damp and malleable to hard, crunchy and entirely satisfying to walk over. Claire's gender non-specific snowperson was still standing and no-one had stolen its hat. There were a fox's footsteps leading down our drive and everything in the neighbourhood looked different. We get snow so rarely, far less than I remember from my childhood, that I become giddy when it is here.

Ingredients in the snow (plus a bird's footprints)

The walk to Chapel Allerton to buy ingredients for ginger wine was a pleasure, particularly my route through the park watching children hurtling down the hill on their sleds, colourful against the white.

Ginger

I had intended to start this wine on the Saturday but the day ran away from me, so winemaking was a task for Sunday instead. I weighed 6½ oz ginger and, having read an article in The Guardian saying that removing skin from ginger was unnecessary, I gave it a quick scrub instead, sliced it thinly - skin and all - and put this in my bucket. Next I took four lemons and sliced the outermost peel from them, avoiding the pith, and put this in the bucket along with all their juice (11 fluid ounces). I then minced 1 lb of sultanas with the food processor and this went in too. My final winemaking task for the day was to boil 3½ pints of water and pour this over everything.

Lemons and peel

On Monday lunchtime, a day where the snow has vanished entirely, I boiled another 3½ pints of water and put this into the bucket with 2 lbs 8 oz of sugar. I let this cool for five hours and then added a teaspoon each of yeast, nutrient and pectolase.

The dry ingredients (except for sugar)

It took well over 24 hours before I was convinced that the yeast was doing its thing, but eventually it clearly was. I left the wine until Saturday 16th January before putting it into the demijohn - and there it is bubbling away: opaque and dark yellow.

Ginger wine in its demijohn

Ginger Wine 2020 - First Bottle (3), 10th January 2021

Once again, ginger wine proves itself to be a suitable flavour to do every year. This is an excellent bottle of wine: it has both a strong ginger and citrus taste, and is dry enough to go with a proper meal. We drank this with Rachel & Duncan, insofar as one can in these days of Covid 19. Zoom is excellent for a long evening chat with just one other screen. We each cooked the same meal - a Malaysian chicken curry - and spent three hours plus chatting. It was a superb evening and felt nearly like we were in the same room. There are definite possibilities presented by Lockdown.

A photo I took on 10 January which 
tells a tragic tale.

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

Ginger Wine 2019 - Final Bottle (4), 21st November 2020

Bentcliffe Drive is having a Life Sized Advent Calendar this year, where households light up a window with a stained glass design. We have decided to do all nine panes in our porch and have been given the number 8, so much of the day has been spent designing ours. In the evening we drank a bottle of ginger wine and watched My Fair Lady, which is a surprisingly long film. I did wonder if it was possible for my arse to get Deep Vein Thrombosis.

One of our panels

Ginger Wine 2019 - Fifth Bottle (6), 10th October 2020

Claire and I disagree on Ginger Wine's prominent flavour. Quite reasonably, Claire argues that it is ginger. In this, she is entirely wrong. The dominant flavour is, in fact, lemon. Whichever (and it is lemon), this is a thoroughly decent wine.

We drank it on a quiet Saturday where the highlight was watching The Princess Bride; a lovely film, full of wit and charm.

Saturday's breakfast

Ginger Wine 2018 - Fifth Bottle (4), 27th June 2020

I found this bottle curiously ungingery. Claire said she could taste the ginger, but I could not. It was perfectly pleasant, if a little towards the sweet sherry borderline. My biggest problem, according to Claire, in respect of this and our evening meal - another go at Pineapple Chicken, because the last had been so successful - was having rather too high expectations.

We drank much of the bottle whilst watching I, Tonya about the ice-skater involved in knee-capping her rival. Highly recommended.

Taken on 27th June - I did some sweeping.

Ginger Wine 2019 - Fourth Bottle (3), 15th-16th May 2020

We are getting through this flavour more quickly than I might otherwise have planned. However, what other flavour should I have chosen for a Chinese Takeaway? Friday evening was beautiful weather, if cold, and it felt so normal (and therefore abnormal) to wander out, hand in hand, with my wife to collect a takeout. Claire donning a facemask, as she went into the shop and I stood outside, was a reminder of course.

We drank half the bottle on Friday and the remainder on Saturday evening whilst watching the Eurovision Song Contest replacement, which was surprisingly lovely as all 41 countries sang Love Shine a Light.

A photo I took on 16th May

Ginger Wine 2019 - Third Bottle (1), 19th April 2020

I thought that this wine was too dry. The lemon was nearly more pronounced than the ginger. My expectations were set too high and that often makes for a disappointing wine. Claire disagreed and did not think that it needed to be any sweeter.

We drank this wine at the end of a lovely day. The weather has been glorious (though we do need some rain) and I spent my morning in the front garden, digging and turning earth. It is a hugely satisfying activity. In the evening we ate Jerk Chicken and watched Last Tango in Halifax and, despite everything, it felt like all was right with the world. (It very clearly isn't!)

Ginger Wine 2019 - Second Bottle (2), 11th January 2020

Claire has blue hair. It is really very blue indeed. Pretty much the colour of the Tardis. She has been planning this for over a year as a way to mark her 50th birthday. I shrieked when I saw it and then laughed and then decided that it looks fabulous.

Once she had come back from the hairdressers we went up to Newcastle where this ginger wine was the first bottle of the evening and enjoyed by all. Claire's family reacted to her blue hair as one would expect. Andrew asked if she was having a mid-life crisis and Claire replied that now was the time to have it.

Claire's blue hair - yes, really that blue

Ginger Wine 2020 - The Making Of...

A new decade and an old favourite for the wine. I started the wine on 4th January: the first Saturday of the year. It was a lazy day and one of the few days of the Christmas holiday period which Claire and I had to ourselves. Naturally, I spent it making wine. Thinking back, we did entertain Liz briefly, who came over to return my corker and watch me bottle my dandelion wine.

The ginger ingredients

 (other than sugar, water and yeast)

For this wine I did exactly what I did the last several times that I have made it, but I will write it all down again in tedious detail just in case you, dear reader, are interested.

First of all I weighed 6 oz of root ginger and then took off all its skin and any knobbly bits that were too small to bother with. I chopped the ginger into very thin slices and put this into my bucket. I minced 1 lb sultanas (as always, using the food processor) and put these in too. Next I took the outer layer of skin off four lemons, being moderately successful in avoiding the pith, put the skin into the bucket and the squeezed lemon juice in as well. I boiled 3-and-a-half pints of water and poured this in too.

The ingredients before processing

On Sunday afternoon, before going over to York to see Rachael, Paul and Myles, who were up from Leicester, I poured in another 3-and-a-half pints of boiling water and 2 lbs 8 oz sugar, stirring it all until the sugar dissolved. We had a lovely afternoon and evening in York. Myles, who is on the cusp of his seventh birthday, has decided to go vegetarian. Not a particularly strict one - chicken nuggets may count as a vegetarian meal - but Rachael and Paul have decided to respect his choice as far as possible. Whilst we all ate lamb, Myles had bean balls coated in bread crumbs. Anyway, back at home I put in a teaspoon each of yeast, nutrient and pectolase.

Giving the wine a stir

On Thursday evening, 9th January, I put the liquid into its demijohn. Yet again, 7 pints of water (using UK measurements) proved exactly right. One would think that I have made this before. The ginger wine is a yellowy-beige colour and bubbling with enthusiasm.

The wine in its demijohn.

I racked this on 16th February. At this stage the wine was still bubbling a little. It had a promising gingery taste and I fit in slightly more than half a pint of water with 2 oz sugar dissolved.

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

Ginger Wine 2018 - Fourth Bottle (6), 29th December 2019

We had an impromptu pizza party last night. The occasion was 'Magnolia Petal Wine Bottling', to which I invited Phil and Angie as owners of the magnolia tree. Bottling a wine produces two glasses for immediate consumption so I knew something else would be required, and ginger wine is seasonal. Also it is one of my Good Ones - and Suitable For Guests. Claire made four delicious pizzas, and only three of us ended up with hot cheese and tomatoes down our clothes. It was a lovely evening: unplanned and laughter-filled.

Seven Swans a Swimming 

(and yes, I know that 29th December 

is not the seventh day of Christmas)

Ginger Wine - First Bottle (5), 21st September 2019

I have a rule that, unless the flavour is Apple, I do not drink my first bottle from a batch of wine until it is a year old. I have broken this rule for Ginger by three and a half months. It is all because I am a Yorkshire miser. When bottling this wine on Friday, I snapped the string during the corking process. Leaving string in a bottle's neck will ruin the wine. Corks cost about 8 pence each. Therefore, by drinking this wine the next day I saved myself nearly one-tenth of one pound. Result!

The wine itself is everything ginger wine should be: dry, light, gingery.

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

Ginger Wine - Third Bottle (2), 26th-27th August 2019

Bank Holiday Monday was a glorious day - it was fabulous weather and I spent much of it in the garden. Only some of that was spent drinking beer. Mostly I was reading a terrific book - The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton. It has been a long time since I have been quite so gripped by a novel. I must be careful not to gobble it up.

Ginger wine was chosen to go with a braised tofu curry and both were fabulous. Then, on Tuesday - rejoice - Bake Off came back, so one of our treats was to finish the Ginger Wine.

Ginger Wine - Final Bottle (1), 29th June 2019

After a rotten June, we achieved summer for one day. The weather was properly hot and sunny and we spent much of it in the garden staring at frogs and drinking beer. By the time evening came around we agreed that more booze was needed. Claire cooked 'Hot & Spicy Marine Invertebrates' and a bottle of ginger wine seemed like the right thing to have. It is an excellent bottle of wine - not so gingery as to be a novelty wine, but enough for a kick. Afterwards I watched The Day After Tomorrow which was ridiculous and two hours that I won't see again. Claire sensibly went to bed half way through.