Blackberry Wine 2019 - Third Bottle (B2), 20th September 2020

It has been a thoroughly satisfactory Sunday. After an early morning trip to the Asian supermarket, where we bought vast quantities of pulses, spices and exotic flour, I spent the afternoon gardening and then foraging for sloes. We are having my 50th birthday garden bench delivered this coming week, so needed to clear a space. This is the sort of gardening that I can do - unsubtle manual labour. Then in the evening I made a lasagne, we drank this bottle (entirely acceptable) and watched Line of Duty. A grand Sunday, followed by a night of anxiety dreams about Law Society Finals (sat in 1993). This coming week is likely to be difficult!

My 50th Birthday Garden Bench (which arrived on 25 September)

Rose Petal Wine 2018 - Seventh Bottle (B1), 10th-11th August 2020

Having not had any alcohol on Sunday, we felt justified in opening a bottle on Monday (and then finishing it on Tuesday). The major event is that Claire is back at work. Her Proper Job, rather than waiting for Covid 19 samples to process. Therefore the wine was a celebration of sorts (though was not quite good enough to deserve that label). It also marked the passing of Cornelia Gruntfuttock, Claire's alter-ego on Facebook. The Facebook authorities have caught up with her and deleted the account, which I think is mean. Claire is less upset than I would be in similar circumstances - and has returned with a vengeance as Fanny Taylor.

A photo of some bracket fungi taken on 10 August

Crab Apple & Strawberry 2015 - Final Bottle (4), 10th-11th June 2020

Claire has been furloughed. I thought that this would be a disaster when told, but turns out that it works for everyone. Her current role of processing Covid 19 samples counts as voluntary work for the pandemic, so can still be done. Therefore, any time saved on furlough now might be added onto her contract at the end of her fixed term. Job's a good 'un.

We celebrated with an ancient bottle of Crab Apple & Strawberry. Despite the bits in it, it was rather good and very clearly both apple & strawberry in flavour. One day I will have crab apples again!

Taken on 11 June - the state of our

bathroom: taken to show the insurer.

Rhubarb, Elderflower & Mint Wine 2020 - The Making Of...

It is with this wine that I say Adieu to my forties. They have mostly been very kind to me. At their start I was just finishing off my MA in Medieval Studies and now at their close I am in a job that I enjoy and I feel settled in my life. The decade has seen two redundancies, a published book, moving house, a dear friend dead, two new cats, a strange and frightening world order, two nephews and the current pandemic. Put like that, my forties sound far more traumatic than they, in fact, were. They have certainly not been uneventful. What better way to mark their close than (or, alternatively, as I had a free Saturday, how else should I spend it except by) making Rhubarb, Elderflower and Mint wine?

Our rhubarb is very much past its best, so I sent a message to Liz to find out if she had any spare. Happily she had plenty and brought round 2 lbs. I managed to get a further pound from our plants to obtain the 3 lbs required for the recipe.

About half the elderflowers came from the elder tree growing in the Synagogue hanging over our back fence; the rest came from trees on Bentcliffe Drive and the elder in Allerton Grange Field. Stripping these to get a pint of flowers was always going to be the dullest part of making this wine, but was enlivened by listening to Mark Steel's in Town on BBC Sounds.

Over the past few years my 'handful of mint' used in this wine has been getting larger and Claire thinks that this is to the wine's detriment. Therefore this year I have only picked a small handful - and mostly spearmint (rejecting those leaves with cuckoo spit on them).

I chopped the rhubarb into thin pieces and put this, the elderflowers and the chopped mint into my bucket with 3 lbs of sugar. I poured over 6½ pints of boiling water and left this overnight. On Sunday morning, 14th June (my 50th birthday), I put in a teaspoon of yeast, nutrient and pectolase.

I meant to put all this into its demijohn on Friday night, but instead had a Zoom meeting with Rachel and Duncan, where we drank a gin and tonic and then a bottle of (real) red wine. Doing anything productive after that was not going to happen. Instead, the wine went into its demijohn on Saturday morning, 20th June. It is a light pink and fermenting as it should.

The wine and Kato

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

Apple & Strawberry Wine - Second Bottle (2), 26th January 2020

Carla is leaving Leeds for Oxford, having got a better, more prestigious job in Linguistic Facilities there.* It is hoped that she will receive more support and appreciation in Oxford than she currently gets in Leeds.

Of her many celebrations, Richard, Linda, Claire and I went round on Sunday night for a meal and I took this bottle of Apple & Strawberry with me. Rather cheekily, I asked Richard to give us a lift so that I could drink. The wine was okay, though a little thin - I should have taken something better. The meal was excellent: non-spicy vegetarian curries; and it was a lovely way to say 'Goodbye'.

I took no photos on 26 January, but here is

a dull one of some washing up drying taken

on 25 January instead. You're welcome.

*Names and details have been changed! I don't know if Leeds has a Linguistic Facilities Department, or whether that is even a thing. If it does, I am sure it is an excellent place which treats its staff wonderfully.

Xmas Tutti Fruti - Eighth Bottle (A2), 14th September 2019

On Saturday morning I drew up a list of things that I needed to do. At time of writing, Sunday night, none of them are ticked. Saturday was not the most efficient of days. Certainly it did not involve mowing the lawn, getting holiday money (we are off to Croatia in a fortnight) or buying corks. As a reward for this inactivity I had the lion's share of a bottle of Xmas Tutti Fruti, which is fizzy (not always desirable in a red wine) and rather good. But the end of the bottle I was just that bit too drunk to concentrate on Midsomer Murders so went to bed instead.

Orange Wine - Fifth Bottle (A6), 8th September 2018

Saturday was one of those days taken up by wine making and chores. I put my blackberry into demijohns, racked my rose petal and picked elderberries. When not doing all that I was washing up, shopping for food and cooking fish pie. I fit in an episode of Doctor Who (all are currently on i-player and I am working my way through Matt Smith) and cut my finger badly when slicing a lemon. Plus we had a bottle of orange wine. So a thoroughly unremarkable Saturday and none the worse for it.

Prune & Parsnip Wine - Eleventh Bottle (A5), 14th December 2017

In the ongoing saga of Claire's job, what started off as a 3 year contract, changed to a 2 year contract, reverted to 3 years after much wailing and gnashing of teeth, has now - somehow - become a 5 year fixed term. This is excellent news and called for celebration in the form of a bottle of Prune & Parsnip wine, though it has left me irritated that the last, dreadful, five months could have been avoided. Still, it gave us excuse enough for an entire bottle of wine on a Thursday night and Claire is now employed until she is 52. Happy times!

Orange Wine - Eighth Bottle (B1), 21st-22nd November 2017

Mostly drunk on a Tuesday!

Claire's new job has yet to take off into any sort of realm of usefulness. She came home bored and dispirited and a bottle of wine was in order. Madeleine's quintet was cancelled so I was able to help her with that, and we got through most of it. To maintain a veneer of decorum, a glass each was saved for Wednesday night after WYSO. This was polished off as I sat down with Claire to plan my turkey-cooking timetable for Thursday.

Prune & Parsnip Wine - Ninth Bottle (A6), 31st October - 3rd November 2017

It was the Bake Off final on Tuesday night, and of course that called for a bottle of wine. I opened Prune & Parsnip for no better reason than we have not had one in a while. There is nothing that suggests 'baking' about it (though it could be used in a trifle). I will miss our Tuesday nights, curled up on the sofa, watching Reality Television and eating treats.

Claire had what remained of the bottle (which was not a right lot!) on Friday before Book Group (South Riding by Winifred Holtby, a book I cannot recommend enough - I loved it). I was driving and she was in need. But her new job starts Monday, which means things should start to look brighter.

Blackberry Wine 2014 - Final Bottle (B2), 24th September 2017

I wrote myself a list of jobs for the day. Saturday had been wasted arsing about on the computer and napping; Sunday had to be better. So I baked bread, made Mediterranean lemon squares for work on Monday, paid bills, tidied, cleaned and swept. Consequently I felt rather better about myself and opened this final bottle of blackberry wine as a reward. It was sausages, onion gravy and mash for tea therefore the wine had to be red. In fact, this wine has aged badly - and it was never the best vintage of blackberry anyway. It was drinkable with more than a hint of blackberry taste, but its flavour has started to decay and, unlike the day, the wine was disappointing.

Blackberry Wine - First Bottle (C2), 3rd-5th September 2017

This wine has a distinctive blackberry taste, is dry enough to make a fine partner for most food, is entirely clear and a splendid colour. Why, then, am I just a little disappointed? I think it is because 2015's vintage was so good that I know I can make better. Blackberry 2016 is perfectly drinkable, but it should be more than that. Never mind.

I opened it on Sunday following a day of picking blackberries for 2017's batch and drank a toast to the people whose graves I had picked from for this wine (Frank Roberts, George Zimmerman, Elijah and Rose Copley, and Ethel Metcalfe). Claire had a glass on Monday - she is really suffering from the job cock-up and telling her that worry is a choice won't help. We finished the bottle tonight after Bake Off.

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

Prune & Parsnip Wine - Seventh Bottle (A5), 19th August 2017

Of the wines I suggested to accompany Chicken & Mushroom Pie, Claire chose Prune & Parsnip. It was a good choice - 'Prune & Parsnip' sounds like a wine that comes from the early twentieth century and ' Chicken & Mushroom Pie' also has that feel to it. Perhaps butternut squash baked with lemons, tomatoes and chillies does not, but no matter. Both food and wine were excellent, and shared with Bob & Judith, who have come to visit for the weekend.

Bob has spent much of his time here fixing things (a violin bow, our bar stools, the Grandfather clock) and explaining the Longitudinal Problem, why it mattered and how John Harrison solved it. He is a useful and interesting father-in-law.

Orange Wine - Fifth Bottle (B4), 12th-13th July 2017

Shortly after I opened this bottle, Claire gave her second shriek in as many days. Nothing to do with the wine and everything to do with invertebrates in the kitchen. On Tuesday there was a wolf-spider in our lesser used pan drawer and on Wednesday it was a slug on a pan lid. Orange wine was required to calm frayed nerves. And judging by how little was left for Thursday, they required considerable calming.

On Thursday, there was cause for celebration. Claire has a new job in immunology and it is a huge relief. A quarter of a bottle of orange wine was not a sufficient celebration, so we had a bottle of Prosecco as well.

Prune & Parsnip Wine - Fourth Bottle (A1), 11th-12th May 2017

Another week. Another WYSO. Another bad mood. This time it is Berlioz's March to the Scaffold that I can't play. Drastic measures are called for. I may have to do some bassoon practice.

Other reasons why I might be a little grumpy? I am now 'Priority Level 3' for PlusNet failing to connect us to broadband. It only goes up to 4 and I have no idea what happens then.

Claire also needed wine - she has taken the plunge and applied for a new job - one which does not rely on grant applications and uncertainty. Prune & Parsnip fitted the mid-week mood-improving need quite nicely, with its medium-dry sherry flavour and overall alcoholic content.

Rhubarb Wine 2014 - Final Bottle (B1), 17th March 2017

Having bottled a triple batch of rose petal (which produces a goodly quantity of spare wine for immediate consumption), opening and finishing a bottle of rhubarb wine was perhaps not wise. Claire said that anything delicious would be wasted and therefore this bottle was an adequate choice. Rhubarb wine does not age brilliantly. There was a hint of cheese to its taste, but this was subtle enough to be nearly ignored. We drank it in front of the stove bemoaning the state of the world in general and Claire's job prospects in particular.

Rhubarb, Elderflower & Mint Wine - Fifth Bottle (B2), 25th February 2017

I think this is one of the best white wines that I have ever made. It is light, refreshing, summery and has a subtle mint jab. Just delicious. I put it in the fridge because I thought Claire deserved a treat after bad news about her job on Friday. In other attempts to win the "Best Husband 2017" award, I spent the day shopping, tidying, washing clothes, sorting through compost bins (not as disgusting a job as I had anticipated) and cooking a meal of Greek-style fish stew, pan-fried new potatoes and spinach. (Claire was at a viola masterclass in Ilkley for much of this.) The fish stew was lovely, and simple - always a good combination.

Rose Petal Wine - Eighth Bottle (A1), 24th-25th February 2017

Claire is having job troubles again. She has been told that there is unlikely to be funding for her role beyond 2017. The problem is that her job doesn't tick the funding boxes: she isn't doing her own research and very often she gives the advice "your experiment won't work for the following reasons..." to those who are. Whilst this saves time and money, it is not measurable. Consequently, Friday was spent moping - particularly after an abortive visit to Madeleine's to provide musical advice on a trio, where we came home again because the pianist had forgotten to turn up. I'd like to say that a bottle of rose petal wine banished all ill-temper, but that would be a lie. It is a good bottle nonetheless, and exceedingly drinkable.

Elderberry Wine - Second Bottle (A6), 27th-29th November 2015

This was our final Thanksgiving bottle, opened on the Friday when we were entertaining Sooz, Andrew, Rachel & Duncan. To be honest, good as the wine was (and it is a fine vintage of elderberry wine, full of rich and dark flavours) it was a bottle too far. We drank half of it and I then spent a teetotal Saturday. This Saturday mostly involved the WYSO winter concert with Tchaikovsky's scary Fourth Symphony. My lip survived and I was moderately pleased with my solos.

Claire and I finished the bottle on Sunday after a day clearing the attic - a long job made all the less tedious by Rachel & Duncan forming an industrious chain.

A small proportion of the attic to clear

Blackberry & Red Gooseberry Wine - Fourth Bottle (1), 12th April 2015

The kitchen is now decorated. It has only taken eleven years. Claire has worked tirelessly over the last week, finishing (or at least getting on with) all those jobs that we really need to do before attempting to sell the house. Because I am inept, my offered help has been graciously declined. However, I did cook the Sunday roast, and do the shopping, and take things to the tip.

We drank this bottle with the roast chicken, and very good it was too. I think this flavour is improving with age.