Prune & Parsnip Wine 2017 - Eleventh Bottle (B6), 30th December 2020

Today has been an excellent day. It has mostly involved a walk round Fairburn Ings and Ledston with Jenny (and Claire, of course). The weather was perfect for a winter walk: low sunshine and never above freezing, with thin dustings of snow. The planned walk went through large swathes of water so this involved much re-routing, but to the benefit of the day. Once home and after a gin & tonic, we drank this Prune & Parsnip to leftover duck cassoulet and an episode of The Queen's Gambit.

Jenny & Claire in perfect winter walking conditions

Blackberry Wine 2019 - Seventh Bottle (B1), 28th December 2020

The period between Christmas and New year has an individual feel. It is one of enforced idleness - and that is far from being the same as 'boredom'. The days stretch out and are filled with gentle activities. As with the two previous days, I spent my time on jigsaws (two), a gingerbread house and a moderate walk (one of each). Also, this bottle of wine, which was earthy in its brambleness, drunk to a fabulous duck cassoulet and and episode of The Queen's Gambit, which is a very 'Now' thing to watch. Who'd have thought that a drama about chess would be quite so engrossing?

The Gingerbread House (plus scaffolding)

Elderberry Wine 2015 - Final Bottle (B3), 8th November 2020

Claire cooked duck on Sunday night and that required a special bottle of wine. I offered to go to the shops to buy something made of grapes, but decided to open this ancient bottle of elderberry instead. And it really was special: rich, smooth, delicious. The duck was superb as well - crispy skin, pink middle.

My day had been one of idleness - I didn't step outside once. My planned five mile walk did not materialise - it was foggy and dank all day. Much better to spend the time indoors with the woman I love.

Jam Jars taken on Sunday - all will be revealed as to why.

Cherry Wine - Third Bottle (4), 21st December 2019

I took this bottle to York with me as something a little bit different to foist onto my parents. They claimed to like it, but I think it has a vaguely poisonous aftertaste and Claire refuses to drink it. I hope Mom and Pop don't think that I am trying to speed up the inheritance! We didn't quite finish the bottle and there is still a glass or so lurking in my parents' fridge.

It was a lovely evening in which Mom served duck in rice and I recorded Pop telling the familiar tale of how he and Mom met on a train to San Francisco. This included the events immediately before that, which I had not known - how he travelled to America by boat and where he changed trains.

At a Chamber Music Party, the day after I drank this bottle

Blackberry Wine - Sixteenth Bottle (A3), 15th-16th July 2019

NB - Bottles will not be appearing in the order I have drunk them for quite some time!

Roast duck legs should be a real treat. Particularly on a Monday night. It was disappointing, then, that these were as tough as wizened horse-flesh. The taste was fine, but the meat took some getting into. And all that chewing! As a perfect accompaniment, I opened a bottle of underwhelming Blackberry, which was okay. Leaving half the bottle for Tuesday night was not a hardship.

Orange Wine - Third Bottle (B4), 28th May 2018

Drunk on a Bank Holiday Monday. Like the previous bank holiday, the weather has been glorious. I have spent some of it in York, some of it in Leeds and much of it in the garden, finishing Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café. This is a lovely book - unsubtle, yes and shamelessly pushing emotional buttons - but entirely charming and full of joy in the human spirit. It has been a while since a book has made me cry.

The orange wine was meant to accompany duck stew, but we has pretty much finished it by the time we ate. As I say, drunk on a bank holiday Monday.

Christmas Tutti Fruti - Final Bottle (B3), 25th December 2015

It is our first Christmas in the new house. Having four proper bedrooms and (now) four proper beds, we are hosting Bob, Judith, Andrew & Susanna. It is one of the things that I am most pleased about - having enough space for guests.

This is Judith's first Christmas in 46 years where she has not been doing the cooking. Claire took this role and produced an amazing, colourful Christmas feast. We had confit of duck, roast potatoes, red cabbage, mushy peas, cranberry sauce, nasty evil sprouts (I actually quite like them), four smeet balls, onion gravy and probably more besides. The wine was delicious too: fruity and rich. This vintage will be missed.

Blackberry Wine - Eighth Bottle (B), 18th January 2015

Claire prepared left-over duck in a marinade of roast garlic, chipotle chillies, balsamic vinegar and cumin seeds, and it was delicious. The meal definitely warranted a bottle of fizzy blackberry wine.

Earlier in the day we had visited Steph Black and Claire chose a beautiful rounded vase as a late birthday present. It has a brittle, black textured exterior which contrasts with a duck egg blue interior that glows in natural light.

I rounded off the day with a near-two hour conversation with Quin. Apparently it is a bit nippy in Nebraska.

All in all, a Good Day.

Elderberry Wine - Fourth Bottle (A6), 17th January 2015

Claire went Waitrose-wards on Friday and came back with a duck for £8. She thinks that they probably had a job-lot to sell. Therefore, Saturday was our alternative to a Sunday Roast, and required something fruity, heavy and red. Elderberry was the only possible flavour and went perfectly. Duck, I think is my favourite meat and we opened a jar of gooseberry ketchup to go with it.

After the meal Claire retired to bed to read and I watched  Mapp & Lucia, which is a wonderful adaptation of the book. Miranda Richardson is superb.

Claire writes: The last glass was distinctly on the lumpy and chewy side.

Crab Apple Wine - Thirteenth Bottle (C4), 15th December 2012

Before the Christmas madness hits properly, we are spending the weekend in York. We are taking our last opportunity to visit Heworth Green before Rachael moves in to have her baby. Pop is currently in Missouri (though back next week) so it has been a quiet evening with Mom. This has involved eating partridge (without the pear tree) and teal duck, and watching a cheesy, cheap and entirely satisfactory 'Top 50 Christmas TV Moments' until far too late at night. The crab apple wine was the first of two bottles opened, and met with my mother's approval.

Christmas Tutti Fruti - Eighth Bottle (B2), 19th-20th August 2012

We had roast duck on Sunday. This is my favourite meat; I love the rich, fatty flavour and its crispy skin is an unbeatable treat. It is not a cheap meal, however, and we will now spend our old age in penury. It was worth it, though. Plus we had Claire's fabulous roast potatoes - no-one does them better - and a red gooseberry and blackcurrant slump for pudding. Christmas Tutti Fruti was really the only bottle to choose for this feast but - nearly unheard of for a Sunday night - we did not quite finish it in one sitting. Instead we shared the last (large) glass on Monday whilst marking cuts in the sheet music for Der Rosenkavalier. This is Northern Wagner Orchestra's next project and it looks fiendishly difficult, even with several pages of music removed.

Elderberry - Bottle B6, 8th May 2011

We had roast duck tonight. This was my 'Congratulations on Getting a New Job' treat. I start working for the police tomorrow, which was not on my Life Plan 'To Do' List. I am actually remarkably enthusiastic about it, though I suspect I shall not sleep well tonight.

The elderberry wine was a perfect bottle to accompany duck: the sweet, round flavours complemented the rich fatty flavours of the meat. Claire's spiced kumquats added to the general exotic timbre of the meal. We also had our first English asparagus of the year and, more impressively, the first entirely home-grown salad, including near-flourescent radishes.

After the salad course and one glass of wine I shaved off my 'unemployment beard'. Another glass would have made this a perilous activitiy.