Rhubarb Wine 2019 - Eighth Bottle (A4), 29th-30th June 2021

I have new boots. Bought at great expense and looking as if they have been made by elves for a medieval Germanic shoemaker, I am really pleased with them. It is the first time that I have been at all interested in footwear apart from slippers. On Tuesday I took my first walk in them - just to Sainsbury's - and I did not return limping and blistered. In the evening I opened this bottle and we had our first glass inspecting the garden and spotting amphibians in the pond. The wine is a fine vintage of rhubarb - there is a touch of bronze to its colour and I think it similar to a shop-bought white. Claire may disagree!

I had the last glass on Wednesday after returning from Madeleine's quintets. It is so good to be playing chamber music again. 

New Boots

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

Halloween Wine - First Bottle (4), 2nd November 2019

I had meant to open this wine on All Hallows' Eve. It wasn't until two nights later that I remembered. But I was out playing quintets at Madeleine's on Thursday once the Trick or Treaters had trickled, so that was a wine-free night.

I had expected the chilli that I used in this wine to be undetectable. In fact, there was both a chilli taste and a subtle heat to the wine making it one of my more interesting brews. It is drier than most my reds and I would have preferred it just a tad sweeter. Lots of fruity taste, though, with not one dominating.

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

Blackberry Wine - Eighth Bottle (A6), 31st March - 2nd April 2019

Having started our Sunday evening with negronis, we exercised some self-control and only drank half a bottle of blackberry wine. According to my step-counter, I had had a sedentary day (fewer than 3,000 steps) and this was because I spent the morning reading The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy - trying to get it finished in time for Book Group. Therefore, I could not justify having additional wine due to an active and exhausting day.

The blackberry was as good as ever and accompanied a slow-cooked lamb stew. I didn't get a look-in for the remainder of the bottle. Claire had a glass in the garden to celebrate her first Monday off work and then finished it on Tuesday whilst I was out playing Glinka trios with Madeleine.

Blackberry Wine - Eleventh Bottle (A4), 17th July 2018

Ordinarily when arriving home from work, if Claire asks for anything, it will be a decaf coffee. Last night I was required to open a bottle of wine as soon as she got in. I don't think Claire had a particularly stressful day, but she has been working exceptionally hard since at least January. I chose Blackberry on the basis that it didn't need chilling and is good without being special. On the basis that I was playing the Poulenc Sextet at Madeleine's that evening I only had one glass before we ate, though another glass and a half on my return. It would be uncharitable to say that I needed it.

Orange Wine - Eighth Bottle (B1), 21st-22nd November 2017

Mostly drunk on a Tuesday!

Claire's new job has yet to take off into any sort of realm of usefulness. She came home bored and dispirited and a bottle of wine was in order. Madeleine's quintet was cancelled so I was able to help her with that, and we got through most of it. To maintain a veneer of decorum, a glass each was saved for Wednesday night after WYSO. This was polished off as I sat down with Claire to plan my turkey-cooking timetable for Thursday.

Rose Petal Wine - Eighth Bottle (A1), 24th-25th February 2017

Claire is having job troubles again. She has been told that there is unlikely to be funding for her role beyond 2017. The problem is that her job doesn't tick the funding boxes: she isn't doing her own research and very often she gives the advice "your experiment won't work for the following reasons..." to those who are. Whilst this saves time and money, it is not measurable. Consequently, Friday was spent moping - particularly after an abortive visit to Madeleine's to provide musical advice on a trio, where we came home again because the pianist had forgotten to turn up. I'd like to say that a bottle of rose petal wine banished all ill-temper, but that would be a lie. It is a good bottle nonetheless, and exceedingly drinkable.

Rose Petal Wine - Seventh Bottle (B1), 4th-5th February 2017

Often rose petal wine is let down by just a hint of bitterness. Not this bottle, though. It was a delight - floral (of course), not too sweet and with a suggestion of the exotic. We drank most of it after Music Club where I played with Madeleine's quintet. Our theme was 'walking': two Promenades, a Walking Tune and the Washburn Suite (which, admittedly, has very little to do with perambulation). The quintet played well and I came home pleased, though eager for wine. We drank it while eating cheese on chilli flavoured crackers - and excellent way to wind down after a concert.

NB - the Video is the last movement of the Washburn Suite - and my favourite of the pieces we played (and has a great bassoon part). It only lasts a minute and a half. The three other links I have put in are Youtube videos of the pieces we played - though only one is a wind quintet.

Crab Apple Wine 2014 - Final Bottle (C2), 26th-29th October 2016

I dashed away from Madeleine's quintets on Wednesday so that I could watch the Final (and final time it is on BBC) of The Great British Bake Off. Claire's alcohol consumption currently only consists of hot toddies, so I drank this bottle of crab apple almost entirely by myself - albeit over three nights. The final Bake Off was as warm hearted as all previous episodes and I enjoyed it thoroughly.

On Saturday night I shared what was left of this bottle with Rachael and Mom, who were both visiting. This, though, was an appetiser for the rest of an excellent evening.

Crab Apple Wine - Seventeenth Bottle (A4), 19th-23rd June 2016

This bottle was opened on a Sunday night when we had already had Too Much to Drink. Consequently, I remember little about its early life. Probably it was refreshing and tasted of apples. Claire had some on Tuesday while I was at Madeleine's playing quintets - though most the music I took proved unpopular. I had the final glass or two on Thursday night after exercising my democratic, and all too regular, right to vote for the losing side. When I finished this bottle I believed our EU membership was secure and all would be well.

Rhubarb Wine - Fourth Bottle (A2), 30th September - 1st October 2015

I showed great forebearance by not opening this bottle until Claire came back from WYSO; a strings-only rehearsal. This was particularly the case because I spent the evening reading our latest Book Group book - After Me Comes the Flood by Sarah Perry, which is tedious and over-written. But once Claire was home the cork was pulled and we settled in to watch Bake Off's semi-final. The wine slipped down as the tension twisted up. Why is it that I care so much about people I don't know making cakes I won't eat? It is excellent television.

We left enough wine for a glass each on Thursday. I was meant to be at Madeleine's for quintets, but she had forgotten and the house was empty.

Crab Apple Wine - Fourteenth Bottle (A2), 16th-17th April 2015

As I was leaving for Madeleine's quintet Claire asked what bottle she could open. "Anything white," was my response.

"Dandelion?"

"NO."

"Crab Apple?"

"Erm."

So, crab apple it was, despite this also being the last bottle drunk.

On Friday we finished the bottle in some misery. The carpet man has been and the stairs and bathroom floor are no longer bare floorboards. It looks great. However, he is insisting on being paid in cash - not having made this clear at the outset - and we feel sullied. Also, he has somehow broken the burglar alarm*. More expense. Bah.

* To all would-be burglars who know my address, we have had the burglar alarm fixed.

Rhubarb and Elderflower Wine - Third Bottle (1), 7th March 2015

This was a post-Music Club bottle, and one that I needed. Madeleine's quintet performed the first and second movement of the Taffanel (though not necessarily in that order) and we were okay. Claire says that we were more than that, but I am a perfectionist, and right now I can only remember the wrong notes, the mis-taken breaths and the places where I did not feel in control. The wine has helped and things are not currently in quite so much focus.

                                                  and his wind quintet

Blackberry Wine - Sixth Bottle (C4), 23rd-25th November 2014

It was steak & kidney pudding on Sunday night, and therefore a bottle of red was in order. On my rationing system, and bearing in mind that the Wine Party has skewed things, this was the only red available. It did its job admirably, however, and there was still a glass over when we went to bed. Claire snaffled this on Tuesday night while I was out playing quintets round at Madeleine's. She has not slept well for about a fortnight, but after this glass slept soundly until the morning. I, however, was kept awake by cats and worrying about insurance.

Elderberry Wine 2014 - The Making Of ...

Elderberries near Castle Howard

I have picked my elderberries in stages this year. The first lot were picked in Hookstone Forest near Harrogate on a sunny Sunday afternoon while Claire was at a wool festival. After some searching, I found a tree laden with fruit and picked well over a pound in about 15 minutes.

The next lot were picked on the verge of a track leading to the Yorkshire Arboretum. We were there to choose a tree for Julia in commemoration of a life lived well. I guessed, correctly, that there would be no elders in the Arboretum, on account of their prolific thuggishness, but was keen to involve Julia in this wine. There was only one suitable elder even leading up to it. While I was picking berries a Castle Howard gardener came through a gate and told me I needed the land-owner's permission for foraging. We then had a conversation about elder trees in general and elderberry wine in particular, and he allowed me to continue with barely a harumph.

My final set of elderberries came from trees close to home, mostly on the way to Meanwood. Stonegate Fields had too few, and I suspect this is my fault for over-picking elderflowers, but I found some good trees near Potternewton Lane.

With all my picking I ended up with 5 lbs 14 oz berries, and I judged this to be enough. Stripping them was made bearable by Radio 4 and the Dum Tee Dum podcast, and I eventually removed the juices staining my hands. (NB - If you click the link, and fast forward to 43:46, you will hear me ring in, and then a huge discussion of home-made wine. It is officially very funny. And then I appear right at the end at 57:00 - ish)

My stained left hand

I crushed the berries on Sunday afternoon, 14th September, in a two hour slot I had after playing a trio with Madeleine in St Edmund's Church and before going to Ros's for a roast. In this time I also made a chilli, washed up and bottled my lemon & lime wine, which was some going. I added 5 lbs sugar and 12 pints of boiling water to the crushed elderberries. On Monday morning I put in the yeast and a teaspoon each of nutrient and pectolase.

Elderberry Wine and Fuschias - a still life (with foot)

I didn't have an opportunity until Saturday morning, 20th September, to put this into its demijohns. It was an early morning job: I sieved out the elderberries, filling two demijohns while listening to the Today programme, which was dominated by discussions of Scotland's 'No to Devolution' vote. I think I'm pleased with the decision, but I fear the political games that David Cameron will now play. Anyway, the elderberry wine is in its demijohns, bubbling away, and as ever is pleasingly purple.

Pleasingly Purple

Elderflower Wine - Fifth Bottle (B6), 5th-6th December 2013

I had an unexpectedly free Thursday evening because Madeleine's quintet was cancelled, so I spent most of it drinking wine instead. Claire and I ate by candlelight, not for romantic reasons but because one of the living room light bulbs exploded in dramatic fashion on Wednesday evening and we haven't worked out how to remove the remainder from its socket. But a glass or two of elderflower win in candlelight is rather lovely.

By Friday night there was only one glass each left in the bottle, so we filled up on whisky macs as a suitable alternative.

Prune & Parsnip Wine - Eighth Bottle (B5), 24th-25th August 2013

I was all prepared to open a bottle of nasty Gooseberry & Elderflower wine when Claire reminded me that I had just played in a relatively stressful concert and therefore should treat myself to something I might want to drink. I am coming to the end of our August ration, and prune & parsnip was the best of what was left.

The concert was Madeleine's 50th birthday concert, where she had arranged for several friends to play a series of chamber music pieces. I played in a trio and a quintet. The trio was terrifying and I genuinely cannot tell whether it went well or not. The quintet was more fun, though I was shouted at by each member for starting it off about twice the speed than had been rehearsed. I blame the adrenalin, but most of a bottle of prune & parsnip wine helped bring things down.

(This recording is obviously not us, but it is one of the pieces we played)

Crab Apple & Strawberry - Fourth Bottle (2), 19th-21st February 2013

This flavour would not, ordinarily, be a mid-week bottle. However, Claire wanted something nice to open on Tuesday. She had missed out on Monday when Julia took over a Chinese restaurant in Oakwood, partly as a delayed 60th birthday party. I was designated drinker, allowing Claire to drive. So on Tuesday, whilst I was out playing quintets at Madeleine's, Claire opened this bottle.

We each had a glass on Wednesday after a quick yet irritating monthly Sainsbury's shop. This usually puts me in a bad mood, and expectations were fulfilled. The wine helped a little but I still maintain it is too dry.

Claire finished the bottle on Thursday because I had already downed two gins before seven.

Spiced Beetroot Wine - Second Bottle (1), 20th-22nd December 2012

On my way out to Madeleine's for wine quintets, Claire asked which bottle of wine it would be acceptable to open. I told her "any" and genuinely believed it. I had not expected her to open Spiced Beetroot. Oh well.

By the time I got back, about half the bottle had gone and Claire was in a jolly mood. The two may not be unconnected. I had a small glass but save the rest for later, and 'later' proved to be Saturday night.

Saturday was an exceptionally wet day - I wore waterproof trousers to pop round the corner to buy a Guardian whilst Claire looked up suppliers of gopher wood on the internet. We finished the bottle after a Christmas Open House at the Bridgewaters and to a selection of vegetable curries, followed by a ridiculous and entirely satisfying Midsomer Murders. It is so camp.

Crab Apple Wine - Sixth Bottle (C5), 17-18th July 2012

Wind Quintets were a feature of this bottle. On Tuesday night I was at Madeleine's quintetting, and then on Wednesday I was at Jude's rehearsing for Saturday's Hip-Hop/Classical mix concert. I returned home on Tuesday (which was actually a quartet as Katie was excused for having a heavy cold) to find my wife returned from Peterborough and a half-empty bottle of crab apple wine. The two events were not unrelated. Claire had experienced train frustration and felt she needed to make it better.

Visiting Peterborough had mostly been a success. Wicked Uncle Alasdair is ill but improving, and Uncle Bert is not as feeble as first imagined. But it is very nice to have her home - and she left me a large glass of wine on Wednesday, which was much appreciated.