Rose Petal & Orange Wine 2019 - Fifth Bottle (4), 11th July 2021

We had another virtual dinner party with Rachel & Duncan on Sunday night and this was our bottle of choice (after a small whisky smash). The food was a Turkish dish: Lemon & Apricot Cinnamon Chicken: so something involving rose petal for the wine was perfect. There was a more pronounced orange flavour than I had remembered, but that wasn't a bad thing. The meal was sumptuous - and easy to make. And then for pudding I produced a white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake.

White Chocolate & Raspberry Cheesecake

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

Crab Apple Wine 2020 - First Bottle (1), 16th May 2021

"Ointmenty". That is Claire's description of this wine. She doesn't think it unpleasant but feels it is a little medicinal in flavour. I, however, am really happy with it. This wine is sharper and more interesting that pure apple wine. It has a lovely golden colour to it and I delighted that after a five year gap, I am able to be self sufficient in crab apples for wine again.

We drank it on Sunday evening which was another Zoom dinner party courtesy of Padian Foods with Rachel & Duncan. This month it was Kapitan Chicken - excellent food at the hot end of spicy and it was a wonderful evening. Full of joy and laughter and, of course, Crab Apple Wine.

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

I also made a Rhubarb Meringue Pie

This is it before it was baked.

Blackcurrant & Raspberry Wine 2020 - Second Bottle, 11th-13th April 2021

Sunday was a day of many pleasures. The best of these was spending time in the garden of 60 Heworth Green, huddled around an outdoor stove chatting with Chris, Kate and my parents. It has been months since I have seen any of them and though we were there for only 90 minutes, it was glorious. We were snowed upon but that just made it all the more memorable.

In the evening we had another virtual dinner party with Rachel & Duncan, where this was our second bottle opened, after a bottle of Prosecco to celebrate Cornelia Gruntfuttock's birthday. The wine is excellent and I will save a bottle for Rachel & Duncan to taste when we eventually see them in person.

The snow came later

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)

Crab Apple Wine 2015 - Twenty-Ninth Bottle (E6), 31st January - 6 February 2021

Claire is of the opinion that this wine has deteriorated massively in quality and refused to drink any. I think that whilst it was not at its refreshing best, it was entirely fine so I drank the bottle over the course of the week, beginning with a Lockdown Dinner Party with Rachel & Duncan and finishing with an incomprehensible film version of Charlie's Angels. I suspect that my lack of comprehension was alcohol related.

Our garden on 2 February

Orange Wine 2019 - Fifth Bottle (3), 31st January - 2nd February 2021

Sunday night was another virtual dinner party with Rachel & Duncan, this time to celebrate Duncan's birthday. Our Zoom screens went on at 6, we drank our aperitifs and began cooking a Malaysian Chicken Curry from Padian Foods. Early on in the process I opened this orange wine, which was butter smooth and delicious. We had an excellent evening: over three hours of cooking, eating, drinking, conversation and laughter. Once this pandemic ends we will continue these virtual sessions.

I also made biscuits that day, and this is them in progress

Blackcurrant Wine 2019 - Sixth Bottle (A2), 11th December 2020

In ordinary years, it would have been my Work Christmas Party. For obvious reasons, that is not happening and I suspect that we are not having any virtual event either. Certainly nothing has been said. Mind you, I always think that I am going to enjoy the Work Christmas Do far more than the presented reality. Every year I leave early, having drunk too much, feeling deafened by the Disco. This year, though, I was at home drinking a fine bottle of Blackcurrant Wine watching an episode of ER with my wife. Not a bad alternative.

Wiggy - taken on 11th December

Crab Apple & Strawberry Wine 2020 - The Making Of...

Sunday 25th October was a day of industry. Our evening was to be spent having a virtual dinner-party via Zoom with Mary. When dining with Mary there is always a theme: we have had foods that rhyme, foods of a particular colour and food that starts with a letter in Dvorak's name. On Sunday Claire chose the theme and that theme was 'Tapas: Pride & Prejudice style'. Therefore much of my day was spent making Spanish dishes and trying to shoe-horn a way of fitting it into Pride & Prejudice. Pickled peppers stuffed with goats cheese and sprinkled with dill represented Lydia for being both cheap and easy. Patatas Bravas represented the early fiery nature of Lizzie and Darcy's relationship.

Lydia & Whickham - Tapas Style

When not making tapas, I was making Crab Apple & Strawberry wine. The 1 lb of strawberries was fished out from our freezer a couple of hours before I started in earnest. I needed 4 lbs of apples, but our crab apple tree only had 3 lbs left on it, so I bulked it out with 1 lb of apples from the tree in our back garden - thus robbing the blackbirds and squirrels of their full ration.

Apples on our tree

I mashed the strawberries, which had yet to defrost fully, in the bucket and whizzed the apples through the food processor, putting these in as well. As 6¾ pints of water boiled, I put 3 lbs sugar into the bucket and gave everything a good stir. Once the water was boiling I poured this into the mix and stirred again. Next morning I added a teaspoon each of yeast, pectolase and nutrient.

The ingredients before processing

On Wednesday evening we drank some of last year's Apple & Strawberry Wine, which was thin and boring. Therefore, I added a teaspoon of citric acid to my bucket as an experiment to avoid that fate - though I don't actually know what effect citric acid has!

The ingredients, after processing

On Saturday morning I sieved out the fruit and put the liquid into its demijohn - this time leaving a gap to avoid any overflow, and storing some wine in a separate bottle for topping up purposes. I could have reduced the water by about half a pint in the above recipe, but now I have a lovely red coloured wine bubbling away in the demijohn.

The End Result

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

Rose Petal & Orange Wine 2019 - First Bottle (5), 12th July 2020

When I bottled this wine earlier this week, Claire suggested that there were some wines for which I did not need to wait a year before drinking. This one, being delicious on bottling, was a prime example. I took it round to David & Liz's for a (garden) dinner party, and the wine was properly good: it was smooth, delicate (not something often said of my wines) and delightful. Everyone genuinely liked it - and none of Phil, Angie, David, Liz or Claire are shy of telling me when my wine is horrid.

It was a lovely evening, and only not-normal in that we all brought our own plates, glasses and eating implements, and we spent the entire time outdoors, which meant that the party was only broken up by the falling temperature.

Angie and Phil at the dinner party

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

Blackcurrant Wine 2018 - Tenth Bottle (B3), 2nd June 2020

We had the warmest, driest Spring experienced since 2018. Just before the weather turned, we had a Government Approved Social Gathering in our garden. Regulations say that you can now have meetings of up to 6 people remaining socially distant outside - and that is what we did. David, Liz, Angie and Phil all came round, pizzas were delivered and we got through rather more wine than is sensible for a Tuesday, including this bottle. It was a lovely, lovely evening.

Setting up our garden on 2nd June

Elderflower, Mint & Rhubarb Wine 2019 - First Bottle (1), 5th June 2020

It was our Book Group Party and Claire was nonplussed that I had not bought real wine for the occasion. My justification was that we had plenty of wine made from grapes on Tuesday night, and Elderflower, Mint & Rhubarb is one of my better ones. This bottle did not disappoint - all the flavours were there and we managed to get through it quickly and efficiently.

The evening was fabulous - our theme was 'Doctors & Nurses' and everyone's book sounded worth reading. I am particularly interested in The Plague by Albert Camus. Certainly it sounds more than relevant to global circumstances today.

A yellow flower in our garden - taken on 5 June

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

Prune & Parsnip Wine 2019 - First Bottle (B3), 1st February 2020

I think this batch of Prune & Parsnip is paler than previous vintages. That does not affect the taste, however, which is very much Business as Usual.

I opened the wine on Saturday evening after an entertaining day which started with the first rehearsal for Don Giovanni - which I will be playing all the coming week - and ended with Midsomer Murders. In between I visited the Kirkgate Market Food Hall, which is excellent - packed with street food vendors (I had a Vietnamese sandwich), people and some terrific buskers - and went to Carla's leaving party. So it has been a day of many pleasures.

The fabulous buskers - Luna & the Moon

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

Blackberry Wine 2018 - Sixth Bottle (A1), 23rd May 2020

I can't remember the last time that I had a clash in my social-engagement diary. It is not something one expects in this era of social-distancing. However, on Saturday night I had to cut my attendance short at a Zoom dinner party in order to join the Snarkalong Film Club at 8 with Jayne and Sooz. The film was St Elmo's Fire and on the whole was unengaging and very much of its time. Blackberry wine was served at both dinner party and film club, and was enjoyed by me.

Fox gloves in our garden

Blackcurrant Wine 2018 - Seventh Bottle (A4), 28th March 2020

This social distancing and lockdown regime does mean that one has to be more inventive with both communication and entertainment. I opened a bottle of blackcurrant wine during a virtual drinks party, where three of my colleagues and I appeared on my phone screen using WhatsApp. Whilst not a perfect success, it was entertaining. Lots of laughter. Then Claire and I finished the bottle whilst watching a concert put together by suggestions from our Newcastle friends, using YouTube. There was a collective enjoyment (though I fell asleep during Shostakovich 5). Despite the circumstances, a good day.

A photo I took on 28th March - it is a good book.

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)

Apple & Strawberry Wine - Sixth Bottle (1), 26th October 2019

It is unlikely that I could get any more middle class. Last night I went to a Yotam Ottolenghi themed dinner party.

Liz cooked up a feast where every dish came for her Ottolenghi cook book: so we had dishes of butter beans blitzed with roasted red peppers and cumin, chicken cooked with green olives & figs and many more besides. All utterly delicious and I ate far too much - having seconds of most things including the pudding. This meant I slept badly.

I took my last bottle of Apple & Strawberry Wine as it is one of my best. Shockingly, it went unopened and we had to make do with rather expensive wine made from grapes, including a Greek white, a Chilean red and something sparkling from Swillington.

Blackcurrant Wine - First Bottle (B4), 21st July 2019

I have made another damn fine batch of blackcurrant wine. This is smooth, fruity and delicious. It wouldn't want to be much drier, but I think it is at least as good as 2017's batch - and that was my best ever vintage.

Some of Sunday was spent at my work summer party, which involved an inflatable assault course, a tug-of-war and less beer than I had planned. In the evening (as well as drinking this bottle) Claire and I watched a dark episode of Morse. I had not noticed, when watching them 30 years ago, how stagy and slow they were. Not bad, by any means - just dated.

Me and two colleagues at the work summer party

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

Prune & Parsnip Wine - Fifth Bottle (B1), 20th-22nd July 2019

Writing this three days later, I can't remember why we did not finish the bottle on Saturday. It may have had something to do with Negronis. Anyway, we had most of it after I returned from a chamber music party in Wetherby where I mostly played in decets and ate three sorts of pudding.

The prune & parsnip wine was unmemorable - but that can be a good thing. We finished it on Monday, where the most exciting thing to happen was that Claire found a newt in our garden.

This is not THE newt, but it is A newt

Apple & Strawberry Wine - Fourth Bottle (2), 7th July 2019

We live on a wonderful street. Last year a group of neighbours organised a few 'play days' where the street was closed to traffic and children could play out. This has been done again this year, and Sunday was a Street Party. I opened a bottle of Apple & Strawberry Wine for it, on the basis that this is one of my best, and it was quickly emptied. I spent much of my time chatting to Number 10, who I have not met before but who have been here for 36 years. It was a lovely occasion and I hope we do it again next year.