Ugli Fruit Wine - Final Bottle (5), 17th November 2018

I had expected Ugli Fruit Wine to come well down the rankings at the Alphabet Wine Party. My citrus wines are often unpopular. However, this came an entirely respectable sixth out of sixteen, with an average score of 3.22 out of 5. Someone said it was Divine, another person commented on its waxy taste and Amy slandered it by writing "Smells like dog food" - so a whole range of opinions.

U is for Unexpected.

Ugli Fruit Wine - Fifth Bottle (6), 22nd April 2018

It has been a splendid weekend. Claire has been out both days playing her viola and I have spent my time pottering. When I enthused about what a great time I had had Claire was somewhat nonplussed and apologised for cramping my style. Mostly I spent my hours in the garden, clearing a bed, mowing the lawn (the first mow this year) and weeding our front garden - which was to be an allotment but is now an excellent home for goose-grass and dead nettle.

On Sunday night we drank a bottle of Ugli Fruit wine as something citrusy to accompany seafood pasta. Both wine and food were lovely, though I am less critical of the wine than Claire. I think it is smoother and more interesting than Orange.

Ugli Fruit Wine - Fourth Bottle (4), 6th January 2017

Today I stared Death in the face. Leeds City Museum has had an exhibition of 12 skeletons laid out in glass cases, with notes about what the bones can reveal. The oldest two were Iron Age, the most recent, Victorian. Whilst there was the initial gruesome shock, this exhibition was respectful and moving, never letting the visitor forget that these had been people with their own thoughts, joys and woes. (I was really in town to buy Claire birthday presents - six pencils and a book - and me shoes.)

In the evening we drank Ugli Fruit Wine - which is really very palatable. I think it is the smoothest of citrus wines, but due to the fruit's accessibility, one I am unlikely to repeat.

Note the green teeth: this skeleton had been buried under the Royal Mint,

and it was the copper from that process that discoloured her teeth.

Ugli Fruit Wine - Third Bottle (2), 26th October 2017

Thursday is not normally a 'whole bottle of wine' evening, particularly if I am planning to walk to work the following day. All I can say is 'oops'.

In fact, Claire continues to have a difficult time with the university's HR departments and felt in need of half a bottle of wine. We were having fish and a citrus wine always goes well with that, so I extracted a bottle of Ugli Fruit. I think it is lighter in taste than Orange wine but they are definitely similar. The fish dish was invented by Claire from what we have in the fridge and was so good that she has recorded the recipe in her Little Red Book.

Fish Lairs [sic]

Par boil some slices of potato and leek
Mix slices of potato and leek with cream, salt, pepper and lots of garlic
Put fish fillets on top
Put slices of lemon on top
Put slices of courgette/marrow (aka zucchini) on top
Put herbs on top
Drizzle olive oil on top
Bake about 200 degrees C until done

Delicious and nutritious.

Ugli Fruit Wine - Second Bottle (3), 8th July 2017

Claire was in a curry making mood, and this is when I like her best of all. We needed something sharp that would hold its own against hot and flavoursome food, and Ugli Fruit Wine fit this description nicely. Despite its name, it is a decidedly pleasant drink.

We had spent a lazy Saturday pottering: Claire gardening and viola practice, me wine-making and bassoon practice. This summer we will be playing Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante in Eb at Rydal (the version for wind quartet as soloists) and I'll be doing the bassoon solo.  I am both excited and terrified, and I need to get the semiquavers under my fingers.

Ugli Fruit Wine - First Bottle (1), 21st May 2017

Well, this is an unexpected delight. I had anticipated something rather less than middling at best and bloody awful at worst. What I have is a light and fresh citrus wine that has no hint of bitterness and that I would be proud to serve in company. Whilst this flavour will remain a one off, I think (and whisper it quietly) it may be even better than Orange Wine.

It was drunk at the end of a lovely, quiet weekend in which I exercised some previously unused gardening muscles removing ash saplings, buttercups, brambles and grasses from our front garden. It may not sound like heavy work (it wasn't) but I ache all over.

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

Ugli Fruit Wine - The Making Of ...

We have a new greengrocers within walking distance. This makes my middle-aged, middle-class heart sing with joy. It is considerably more expensive than the fruit & veg shops in Harehills, but it is much better quality and we do not have to drive. On Saturday, though, my unwavering loyalty to the new place became assured.

7 Ugli Fruit - I think Homeli rather than Ugli

Claire told me to inspect the fruit on display outside the shop carefully. I had a look and wondered why Dutch strawberries were quite so worthy of comment. Then I looked at the back row and saw a box of Ugli Fruit. Claire was watching through the window all this time and said that my face literally lit up. I have been looking for Ugli Fruit since I decided I wanted to do a wine alphabet (probably five years) and have never found a vendor. Not really knowing how many I needed (I still don't), but because they are far larger that oranges, I took seven. They were meant to be £1.25 each, but seeing as I was buying in bulk, the owner said I could have them for £7. As I say, undying loyalty.

I don't have a recipe, but had a quick look at the Thirsty Gardeners' instructions for grapefruit wine (Ugli Fruit are a grapefruit-orange-tangerine chimera) and pretty much ignored them. On Sunday, 15th May I thinly peeled two of the fruit, putting the shavings into the bucket. I squeezed six using the usual orange juicer but one with my hands, having peeled it first. Claire and I shared a segment and it was an undistinctive citrus fruit.

The juice went into the bucket along with 2lbs 8oz sugar and six and a half pints of boiling water. On Monday morning I added the yeast and a teaspoon each of pectolase and nutrient.

Putting this into its demijohn on Friday night, 20th May, was a quick job. I was relieved about that as I had already bottled 30 bottles of crab apple wine, didn't start on the Ugli Fruit wine until 9 o'clock, and still had 3 gallons of rhubarb wine to put into its demijohn. My adjective for the evening would be "sticky". The Ugli Fruit wine is beautiful in colour - a bright, sunshine yellow.

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