Blackberry Wine 2020 - Seventh Bottle (A2), 2nd October 2021

On the dankest of Saturdays I have been out in the rain thrice. The first two were to buy provisions for the coming week. The last was to check if the local garage was selling petrol. We are in the midst of a fuel shortage because (thanks to Brexit - the gift that keeps on giving) there are not enough lorry drivers. And as soon as the Government says "Please don't panic buy", everyone does. There have been queues of traffic at any open garage for the last week. On Saturday evening I joined that queue (short, when I was there) and celebrated my success at home with a bottle of Blackberry Wine, a lamb curry and an episode of The Bridge.

Taken on 2 October - the result of a 
startled cat after I sneezed.

Rhubarb Wine 2020 - Second Bottle (B3), 16th-17th September 2021

There is a burnt taste to this wine and it is quite unlike any rhubarb wine that I have made before. It has a flavour of "Early stages of Lockdown" when the supermarket shelves were bare of anything useful, like white sugar. That I have another ten bottles does not fill me with delight.

Thursday was a strange day. I was in the office (first week back!) but - due to the new hybrid working arrangements, just about no other bugger was. Sitting in a room by myself, but commuting to do so, seems like the worst of both worlds in this new regime.

No photos taken on 16-17th September.
Here is one from my last day of holiday.

Elderflower, Mint & Rhubarb Wine 2019 - Fifth Bottle (3), 4th August 2021

Despite Covid 19, we made it to Rydal this year, and I cannot express what a joyous week it has been. Playing again in an orchestra that I love and with my favourite group of people has just been wonderful. 

This wine was the first of three opened during the Rydal week, after a day of walking in brilliant sunshine with Claire and Judith - so there was an element of it feeling earned. Nick claimed he was allergic to mint so didn't have any, and Kirsty pulled a face, but otherwise this bottle was enjoyed.

Claire and Judith on a long, hot walk.

Elderberry Wine 2017 - Thirteenth Bottle (C1), 24th July 2021

It is not many bottles of wine that result in five people dancing to a mix of Abba and Tchaikovsky in the garden after dark. This was one such bottle. Actually, it was one of many that evening, but it was a glorious night. This was the first weekend since the Covid restrictions had been lifted and we spent it in Cambridge with Rachel & Duncan (Howard was our fifth). 

Earlier in the day we had helped out at a Food Hub, which was itself an interesting and enjoyable thing to do, but it is the evening that will stay with me. One of those magical times where my own universe is full of joy. The wine wasn't bad either.

Rachel at the Food Hub

Orange Wine 2018 - Eleventh Bottle (A3), 22nd July 2021

Mostly I made quiche whilst this wine was in play. England is having a heatwave at the moment - so a perfect time to be baking. We are off to Cambridge on Friday evening and need an easy meal during the journey - hence the quiche. A glass or two of orange wine to help the process along is never a bad thing, particularly when the pastry starts falling apart. Orange wine, though, is not one to write reams about: it is a reliable white that has a citrus kick. Finishing the bottle was no hardship.

Oh - I did my first ever Lateral Flow test.

My quiche and lateral flow test

Rhubarb, Elderflower & Mint 2020 - Second Bottle (5), 5th June 2021

The week has been a veritable social whirl: to York on Tuesday for Mom's 80th, Book Group on Friday (albeit virtual) and then a proper dinner party at Angie & Phil's on Saturday. Yes, we spent most of it outside, but that was because it was a lovely summer's evening rather than a Government Edict for the Protection of Society. It was a marvelous evening and felt so normal. Life will return to much as it used to be and we are on the first steps of that.

I took this wine at Liz's request and it is an excellent bottle. So much so that I may make a double batch this year.

Angie's recipe for Rhubarb & Custard Cake

Xmas Tutti Fruti Wine 2019 - Eighth Bottle (A5), 27th-28th May 2021

Since Lockdown began in March last year, I have been into the office six times. Four of those were to pick up stationery. Visits five and six were on Thursday and Friday this week - and were to tidy up for the impending office move. It was strangely melancholy throwing out handwritten notes from 2013, which were important at the time but have not been looked at since. 

We drank this Tutti Fruti both evenings in front of the computer watching Derry Girls and ER respectively - both well made television. The wine was as good as ever.

Telephones stored in the Office

Rose Petal and Orange Wine 2019 - Fourth Bottle (1), 22nd May 2021

Lockdown has taken a significant move towards release. We can now visit people indoors and stay over night. Our first visit, therefore, was to York where we spent Saturday night with my parents, the Eurovision Song Contest and this bottle of Rose Petal & Orange which I think everyone enjoyed. It retains its buttery smoothness.

Spending time with Mom & Pop was wonderful and, of course, immediately felt normal. Getting rapidly drunk on a Saturday night at Heworth Green is such a pleasure! As was Eurovision - as ridiculous and camp as ever. And we watched it exchanging WhatsApp messages with Todd & Anne, who were sharing the experience 8,000 miles away. 

A picture I took in York the following day

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

Elderberry Wine 2018 - Sixth Bottle (B2), 2nd May 2021

Our week's holiday is nearly over and to mark the occasion we drank a bottle of elderberry wine with Toad in the Hole and onion gravy. Earlier in the day we ate sausage sandwiches in Bedale after planting an apple tree. The day had clearly been sponsored by the Sausage Marketing Board. 

The wine was excellent - everything elderberry wine should be with no metallic taste. We then watched the final episode of Line of Duty which ended on a moment of reflection rather than the fireworks the Nation expected.

An apple tree planted in Bedale

Apple Wine 2019 - Fourth Bottle (1), 16th-18th April 2021

Mostly this bottle came after a drink in someone else's garden. The most recent easing of Lockdown allows groups of six people to mix outside and we have taken full advantage. On Friday we were drinking cider in Mark's garden - some of the apples came from our tree and the fizzy stuff was excellent. Then on Saturday we drank top quality champagne with David & Liz to celebrate David's birthday. The apple wine was a bit of a come down after that. Alright and little more.

Pear blossom in our garden on 17th April

Spiced Beetroot Wine 2021 - The Making Of...

I last made Spiced Beetroot Wine ten years ago. 2011 seems like a foreign country: they did things differently there. It is worth revisiting this flavour from time to time, not least because of its alarming colour. Also, on the whole my reds are better than my whites - and whilst this is not a traditional red (what with it being made from beetroot) it has the appeal of the unusual.

Not quite enough beetroot

I came home from Chapel Allerton on Saturday noon with not quite enough beetroot. Claire wanted two for her 'Beetroot, Goat's Cheese and Caraway' Bread, leaving me with 2½ lbs rather than the 3 lbs set out in my recipe. However, the bread was superb and I was deviating from my recipe in other ways, so this was no sacrifice at all.

Beetroot, Goats' Cheese and Caraway Bread

I began my wine-making on Easter Sunday, 4th April. Often at Easter we are in Newcastle or hosting Claire's siblings here but those options were impossible for obvious reasons. Instead I spent most the day in the kitchen baking (peanut butter cookies and lemon meringue pie, thank you for asking) and making wine to Classic FM's Top 300 Countdown. I chopped the beetroot into small-ish chunks and put these in my biggest pan with 6 pints of water. This was brought up to the boil and left simmering for 35 minutes.

Chopped Beetroot

Meanwhile, I sliced 2 oz of ginger thinly and put this, the juice of one lemon, 2 lbs 12 oz sugar, 8 oz minced sultanas and 2 pints of cold water into my bucket. Adding sultanas is new - and has been done to give the wine additional body. I put in six or seven shards of clove - some bits looked like really tny cloves - and this is certainly less clove than I have used on past occasions. I also added less than half a teaspooon each of ground cinnamon and mixed allspice. When the beetroot had finished boiling I poured in the water and discarded the vegetable.

Monday morning I added a teaspoon of nutrient and pectolase. I started a teaspoon of yeast in half a pint of sugary lukewarm water and once that was going put that in too.

Fermenting Beetroot Wine

After stirring once a day, I put the wine into its demijohn on Friday, 9th April whilst listening to the extensive coverage of Prince Philip's death. It was a quick job (the wine, not the death) (though that might have been too) and the wine is a pleasing colour. I have wrapped the demijohn in newspaper, however, so that the colour does not deteriorate (which apparently happens with beetroot wine).

A pleasing colour
(NB - I haven't altered the wine colour, just 
removed the green grass from the photo)

Blckcurrant Wine 2019 - Ninth Bottle (A3), 28th March 2021

Sunday was a day full of domestic chores. The best of these was making Blondies with Peanut butter-cream icing (calorie content: astronomical) but there was also much sweeping and tidying. Not that there is anyone allowed to visit until 17th May, but sometimes I get fed up of living in grime. 

In the evening I opened this bottle of blackcurrant wine - which was as tasty a bottle as blackcurrant can be - and we had a beef & spring onion stir-fry courtesy of Padian Foods. Blisteringly hot as ever - which is not a bad thing. Then Line of Duty and a sleep interrupted by two mice gifted by Wiggy.

Blondies - they were fabulous!

Blackcurrant & Raspberry Wine 2020 - First Bottle (6), 20th March 2021

Claire and I had our first Covid 19 jabs on Saturday, and that makes me happy. It was a remarkably speedy and efficient process. I had expected long and slow-moving queues, and in fact it was the opposite. 24 hours later, my arm feels bruised but otherwise there are no other side effects.

In the evening we celebrated with a rather nice (if floppy) gin & tonic and then this bottle of wine. The wine is excellent, tasting of both blackcurrant and raspberry (odd, that). It is fruity and light and delicious. We also watched Return to Oz at the Snarkalong Film Club. This is a deeply disturbing and surreal children's movie, which has more scenes of electro-convulsive therapy than one might expect for a film aimed at the under-12s.

Immediately before the Jab

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

Xmas Tutti Fruti 2019 - Fifth Bottle (B5), 19th March 2021

A Friday night bottle at the end of an irritating week. Irritating because of work not going entirely to plan, rather than anything more profound. The wine is excellent and rather too easy to drink. Much of it was drunk to a Taylor family Zoom, in which we mostly discussed Covid. Claire and I have our first vaccinations tomorrow. At last - something that the Government is doing well and efficiently.

A random photo of an ornament taken on 19 March

Orange Wine 2021 - The Making Of...

One of the 'First World Problems' caused by Covid 19 is the sheer amount of queuing that it creates. Whilst one might point to the 120,000 deaths in the UK, the mental health crisis, the vast unemployment and the failure to see loved ones, it was the time spent standing in lines that annoyed me most on Saturday, 6th March. The greengrocer, the butcher and the post office all had long, slow-moving queues and by the time that I got home Claire had to calm me down with cake.

A crate of 24 oranges

Making things better, though, the greengrocer had set aside a box of 24 oranges for me - large Spanish oranges looking like they had been plucked from their tree mere hours ago. 

I started making my wine that afternoon by thinly peeling half of the oranges and covering the peel in two pints of boiling water. This is always the most tedious bit of making orange wine and this year I separated it out of the process by making it my first task, leaving the orange peel to percolate in its water for 24 hours. I did a particularly poor job of avoiding the pith and if this wine turns out too bitter, that will be the explanation. 

A particularly poor job of avoiding the pith

On Sunday afternoon, 7th March, I squeezed all 24 oranges - changing hands every three oranges so as to avoid a painful and overused shoulder. This is a sticky job and required frequent handwashing.

Some of the oranges with outer skin removed

With the oranges being larger than most years I got far more juice - 6 pints (including all the bits of flesh). I added 6¾ pints of cold water and the two pints of water that had been covering the peel. Into this I poured 5½ lbs of sugar and gave it a good stir. I then started 2 teaspoons of yeast fermenting in half a pint of water with a teaspoon of sugar and put this into the mix once fermentation had begun. I added a teaspoon of pectolase and 1½ teaspoons of nutrient. Though my usual timetable would have me putting the wine into its demijohn on Friday, it was Book Group that night (Grownups by Marian Keyes - hated by some, loved by others) so I did this all on Saturday 13th March instead. There was little to sieve out so the process was quick. I am left with two demijohns of pure sunshine.

Two demijohns of sunshine

Strawberry Wine 2015 - Final Bottle (3), 23rd February 2021

Strawberry wine, it turns out, is not one to lie down in the cellar for years before sampling. This wine was so near to undrinkable that I poured it down the sink. It is rare, indeed, that I resort to that. The taste was cloying and unpleasant and I wonder if it was corked. I opened a bottle of Ginger instead and that was far better.

After I had poured the wine away I inspected the bottle. It was badly stained from the wine and may ultimately need to be recycled.

Little of note happened on Tuesday, but that is so often the case in these days of Lockdown. Still, the news on that front is looking more promising. We may be free to return to near-normal by July!

The empty wine bottle

Xmas Tutti Fruti 2016 - Eleventh Bottle (B5), 28th-29th January 2021

Claire's verdict on this bottle was 'Better than a midweek bottle, not quite good enough for the weekend'. That is quite niche in its categorisation. My verdict is that it has the dryness of real red wine but (despite all its fruit) neither its complexity or depth. I had planned a booze-free night on Thursday but Claire returned from work irritated by bureaucracy so I was easily persuaded. Also I had a rare day of feeling low about the virus. Thursday's continuous drizzle didn't help.

Photo taken on Sunday,
Cake finished on Thursday

Orange Wine 2016 - Final Bottle (A1), 26th-27th January 2021

Orange wine is not one that becomes steadily better with age. This was not an awful bottle but was distinctly mid-week. It had that hint of fortified wine that older bottles often acquire. On a personal level very little happened of any note on the two days that we drank this. I made a fabulous beetroot & goat's cheese risotto but that was about it. On a national level, the UK passed 100,000 deaths from Corona Virus. That is about the population of York.

A Hellebore flowering in our garden

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.