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!)

Elderflower Wine - Ninth Bottle (A3), 11th-13th April 2013

Claire was unexpectedly in on Thursday night, her trios round at Julia's having been cancelled. Apparently Juia had spent the day clothes shopping (a most un-Julia-like activity) and consequently was exhausted. As there were two of us in the house to drink it, I opened a bottle of elderflower and settled down to watch Broadchurch - an English homage to The Killing with David Tennant and Olivia Coleman - whilst Claire played the viola. Not in the same room, of course. That would have been irritating.

Claire finished the bottle on Saturday while I was at Bradford Grammar School playing fourth bassoon with Leeds Sinfonia in Verdi's Requiem. I find it odd that Verdi required four bassoons. In a piece lasting well over an hour there are eight bars towards the end where all bassoons are doing something different and interesting. And that is it. I am sure Margaret Thatcher (who died this week) would have seen it as grossly inefficient use of resources and closed the piece down.

Orange Wine - Tenth Bottle (A4), 16th December 2012

I hadn't intended to drink any wine tonight, but find myself having drunk half a bottle by mistake. It is an easy one to make. Claire handed me a glass whilst I was a third the way through 'The Killing's final episode, and it would have been rude to refuse. Also, I was so engrossed in the plot, and worried that Sarah Lund would be killed off, that I hardly noticed a glass go down. And then it's natural to have a glass and a half with one's evening meal (beans on toast - though all home made). By that time, there is so little left in the bottle that you might as well polish it off - particularly if you need an incentive to do all the washing up. That's my excuse anyway.

Dandelion Wine - Fourth Bottle (1), 6th-7th December 2012

I opened this bottle on a Thursday night and proceeded to drink half of it with unseemly haste. Some of that was spent watching The Killing (which continues to be excellent - better than series two (which was still Very Good), not as good as series one) and the rest was over a meal of sea bass and lentil salsa. Claire finished the bottle on Friday night whilst I was out with my colleagues eating pizza and drinking far, far too much. I am typing this at noon on the day after, and only just now feel human. Which is lucky, as I have a concert tonight.

This dandelion wine was surprisingly good. So much so that I think I will make it again. Maybe leaving it to mature is the answer.

Orange Wine - Ninth Bottle (B5), 23rd November 2012

Rejoice. 'The Killing' is back. My last glass of orange wine was spent reading Danish subtitles and trying to work out the beginnings of a convoluted plot. The first episode was promising, though I suspect nothing can match the original series. It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to stay in and watch telly, having had seven nights out on the trot.

Earlier in the evening I stood around the kitchen drinking orange wine, watching Claire cook and generally catching up with her. It feels like we have not done this enough recently, with one of us dashing off to be somewhere. The orange wine was a tasty addition to a pleasant evening.

Crab Apple - Bottle C2, 29th November - 1st December 2011

I had planned a week of temperance after Saturday's excesses but took little persuasion to open a bottle on Tuesday. That night's glass was drunk whilst watching episode 4 of the second season of 'The Killing'; a Danish crime thriller. This is not as good as the original series - which examined a family's loss in minute detail after their daughter's murder, but was still an excellent whodunnit. The second series, whilst entertaining and exciting, is straightforward crime fiction.

[The rest of this entry cannot be reproduced here. Maybe in a month or two. Things need to be more settled. I will explain when I can.]

Bonfire Wine - Bottle 3, 20th November 2011

Suitably, Bonfire Wine has proved to be an explosive brew. This bottle woke Claire up on Thursday night as it popped its cork. Into the fridge it went, until tonight. Then, whilst I was bottling mhy rhubarb wine, it exploded again - causing a certain amount of jumping in surprise and looking for the gun shot.

This is a delicious wine, though. Fizzy (obviously) and fruity, but with a strong chilli taste. It went well with a sausage and brown lentil casserole, served with cabbage, artichoke & potato mash and a suitably hot horseradish sauce. This, after a lazy day of reading the latest P J Tracy, and watching the first episode of season 2 of 'The Killing'. Crime fiction is where it is at.