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

Rhubarb Wine - Second Bottle (B4), 11th June 2016

One would ordinarily celebrate the Feast of St Ithamar on 10th June, that being his official 'Day'. However, we were at Book Group so could not mark the occasion properly. Instead, we delayed it a day and had a host of vegetarian curries and a bottle of rhubarb wine. The food was wonderful: spinach and rice dumplings, aduki bean dall, raita, courgettes stuffed with coconuts and chilli. I don't know what an Anglo Saxon bishop would have made of it. Probably he would have stuck to the wine.

Rochester Cathedral - Ithamar's Resting Place

Blackcurrant Wine - First Bottle (A3), 10th June 2015 (sort of)

Jude has designed a postcard to advertise Rydal. It has a retro look to it, and does the job nicely. I had agreed to pay £100 for this, but when it came down to it Jude said that she didn't want the money. I paid her in wine instead. It all very nearly went catastrophically wrong, though. In the car park, before WYSO, Claire pulled the bag on which I had rested the bottle out of the boot, launching this bottle onto tarmac. I watched it fall in slow motion, expecting glass to shatter and an overpowering smell of blackcurrant. That the bottle stayed unbroken I put down to a miracle of St Ithamar, whose feast day it was, and who I have honoured every year since 2010.

Prune & Parsnip Wine - Fourth Bottle (A1), 9th-10th June 2015

This year's Book Group party theme is 'Animals'. Earlier this week I finished a literary, difficult (but worthwhile) read - Gould's Book of Fish by Richard Flanagan. I fancied something at the other end of the spectrum, so while having a glass or two of Prune & Parsnip, I rattled my way through the first 100 pages of Jaws which is neither difficult nor literary.

We finished the bottle after a fairly dreadful WYSO while eating florentines in honour of the Feast of St Ithamar. Prune & Parsnip wine is sweet enough to drink with chocolatey biscuits, and I have decided that despite not being a believer, St Ithamar is my personal patron saint. I will explain more in my next post: Blackcurrant - First Bottle.

2015's Feast of St Ithamar

Blackberry Wine - First Bottle (B), 10th-13th June 2014

This bottle was chosen in spectacular fashion by St Ithamar, whose feast day it was on Tuesday. If I were superstitious or religious, I would say it was a miracle. Within ten minutes of me opening a nasty bottle of wine to celebrate St Ithamar, this one shot its cork and spewed wine all over.

We have drunk this bottle slowly, and tonight had a glass in the garden, inspecting our rose (which is fabulous) and gooseberries (less so). Summer evenings are fabulous and too few. Too many 'fabulouses' there. Why do I get stuck on words? Clumsy.

Our Roses (plus a foxglove)

Gooseberry & Elderflower Wine - Sixth Bottle (A4), 10th-13th June 2014

It was the Feast Day of St Ithamar on Tuesday. I cooked a spicy tomato and cod dish by way of veneration and opened a bottle of Gooseberry & Elderflower wine. Admittedly, this is a long way from one of my best wines. It is on the 'just drinkable' spectrum, and not a wise choice for a wine to pay homage to a saint. Within five minutes of me opening it, a bottle of blackberry exploded. The cork shot into the air and wine volcanoed out. Obviously Ithamar was displeased, and pointedly chose something rather better and more fitting to his celebration. We still had an open bottle of gooseberry & elderflower, however, and have drunk it slowly throughout the week. Its musty taste seems to have lessened as the wine has aged.

A Window at Rochester Cathedral

Recipe for the Spicy Cod and Tomato Dish

1 onion - chopped fine
1 clove garlic - crushed
1 chilli, taking out as many seeds as you want, chopped fine
a few strands of saffron
4 large tomatoes chopped roughly
1 cod fillet
half a teaspoon of sugar
a teaspoon of vinegar (flavoured with herbs if possible)
salt and pepper to taste

Method

Fry the onion, garlic and chilli in olive oil until soft
Add the tomatoes
Soak the saffron in a little boiling water for about five minutes, and throw it in
Once the tomatoes have disintegrated a little, add the cod in flaked pieces
Keep cooking for probably until the fish is done (maybe 20 minutes)
Add the sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper
Serve on cous-cous flavoured with salted lemons or artichoke hearts or whatever you want, really.

Crab Apple & Blackcurrant Wine - Fifth Bottle (5), 9th June 2013

We celebrated the Eve of the Feast of St Ithamar tonight. In past years we have observed the feast day itself, but in 2013 it falls on a Monday, and that is incovenient.

As part of our celebrations I cooked a SNAPE (Something New And Possibly Exciting) which I have not done for an age. This time it was Delia's Mexican Chicken Chilli, and was superb (if I do say so myself). We also had the first of this year's salad-from-the-garden, and washed it all down with a bottle of crab apple and blackcurrant.

The wine has matured well. It has a sparkle, and a strong fruity flavour. Our blackcurrant bushes are looking promising this year and I can imagine worse uses of their fruit than this. I should have spent this evening tidying in preparation for Rosie's visit on Tuesday but never mind.

The first garden salad of the year

Blackberry Wine - Sixteenth Bottle (C5), 10th June 2012

Today is the Feast Day of St Ithamar, and we have celebrated him with a feast. Our main course was lamb chops marinaded in olive oil, garden grown mint and tarragon, with broad beans, spinach, potatoes and that aubergine-tomato-breadcrumb dish. The most exciting course, however, was the starter. This, including the pigeon, was entirely foraged from the garden. We had our first summer salad - lettuces of various kinds, chive flowers and radishes, as well as plump pigeon breast lightly fried.

About a month ago Claire heard a 'thunk' against our back bedroom window. It was an adolescent pigeon with suicidal tendencies. Checking it was already dead, Claire plucked and removed the breast and put it in the freezer. This meat was delicious - tender and flavoursome. The blackberry wine went well, and we raised our glasses to Ithamar, first Anglo-Saxon bishop of Rochester (and, indeed, England).

The Salad of St Ithamar

Other Wine Jobs over the last 10 days or so ...

5th June 2011 - I racked my Dandelion wine. It had cleared entirely and was a pleasing yellow. I racked it far earlier than I normally would have done, but I have begun to suspect that the musty taste in my homebrew is caused by leaving it too long on its sediment. The taste was more promising than any but my first Dandelion. I added three-quarters of a pint of water and 4 oz sugar.

10th June 2011 - I bottled my Hedgerow wine, on the Feast of St Ithamar after 11 p.m. . The evening was spent in Harrogate playing quintets in anticipation of Saturday's concert in Killinghall, hence the late hour. The wine's taste is rather good. Lots of currant, quite dry and with a bit of body to it. I think it needs time to age.

11th June 2011 - I bottled my Sloe wine. It is still clear, and an attractive light red. The two sips I got (rather than my usual full glass because of the drive to Killinghall that followed) were dry and thin. So, disappointing without being nasty.

Orange - Bottle A5, 8th-10th June 2011

Yet again, Orange serves its duty as a decent mid-week bottle of wine. Wednesday and Thursday were 'nightcap' glasses after (respectively) West Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra and Madeleine's quintet. The former was frustrating: Beethoven's 7th is a long, high blow and my lip hardly survives the first movement. The latter was more satisfying than our first meeting. We worked on Ibert's 'Little White Donkey' (as well as 'Teddy Bear's Picnic') and blended better as a group.

Tonight I came home from yet more quintets - this time in Harrogate - to find the bottle empty. Claire felt she needed two glasses to toast the Feast of St Ithamar. And quite right too.