Gooseberry Wine 2020 - Fifth Bottle (5), 20th November 2021

 Liz & David hosted an evening of pure jollity on Saturday. Phil, Angie, Claire and I all gathered there to eat Take-Out pizza and make merry. It has been a little while since I had such unadulterated fun and there was much laughter. Also much wine, of which this bottle of gooseberry was one. It really is a good wine, with a sweetened gooseberry taste. The postscript to this evening, though, is that on Wednesday Liz sent round a message to say that she has Covid. I hope to remain unaffected.

A current selection of the wine I have on the go.

Apple Wine 2019 - Fifth Bottle (2), 26th June 2021

I really should write up my wines as soon as I have finished them. It is three days later and I remember little about this bottle. That suggests it was not ghastly. I think it had a heavy, overly floral taste and needed a sugar syrup to make it better, but it was still acceptable. We drank it to homemade pizza, which is always delicious, and a silly superhero film called Ant Man in which the protagonist did not invade picnics or live in a rockery. Otherwise, much as the wine, it was entirely acceptable.

My Apple Wine in the Fridge

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

Blackberry Wine 2018 - Fourth Bottle (A3), 18th-19th March 2020

We should have been at WYSO on Wednesday for our final rehearsal of La Villi before Saturday and Sunday's performances. Instead we were at WYSO collecting the music in to return to the publishers. It is only a small sacrifice to have made to the Corona Virus pandemic, but a miserable one. Artistic life is going to be devastated over the coming months.

At home I opened a bottle of blackberry wine and we had a take-out pizza. The pizza was somewhat less disappointing than the wine. Curiously, the wine had improved the next day.

Some mushrooms - I took this photo on 18th March

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)

Elderberry Wine 2017 - Fifth Bottle (B4), 29th December 2019

Our second bottle of the evening, not counting the Negronis or the glass of Magnolia Petal wine. We did have company; Angie and Phil; so it isn't quite as shocking as it sounds. By the time this bottle was open we were full of pizza, more than a little tiddly and sitting in front of the fire. The wine was okay, but it is still too young to be thoroughly satisfying.

A photo I took on 29 December

Blackberry Wine 2017 - Sixteenth Bottle (C6), 3rd April 2020

This was a Book Group Bottle. The month's book was A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman and I loved it, despite its shaky start. It has been a while since I read the last chapter through tears. Book Group was a little different to normal, what with social distancing and being confined to our houses. We managed it virtually, however, using Zoom and it worked rather well. Seven of us met up and we tried to make it as normal as possible. So, Claire and I ate crisps, pizza and cake, and shared this rather delicious bottle between us. Life in Lockdown isn't so bad.

Apple & Strawberry Wine - Fifth Bottle (5), 13th September 2019

I was cross when I opened this bottle. Mostly it was because I was hungry. Claire stayed late at work, arranging for me to collect her at 8:30 p.m.. I ordered a pizza to be ready for 8:50, but Claire wasn't in the car until 8:37. Writing that down, there is no justification for me being cross. Particularly as I hadn't seen Claire since Sunday.

When we got home I basically inhaled both pizza and wine, not really noticing either. My mood improved and we watched 'Bread Week' on The Great British Bake Off

Blackcurrant Wine - Eighth Bottle (A6), 26th July 2019

I really should not have finished this bottle. I had already had a glass of rose petal & orange and a negroni. But my day in the office was over 11 hours long and we are now on holiday. Therefore drinking lots in a short space of time was always going to happen. It is now Saturday morning and I feel somewhat the worse for wear. But we had a nice evening - eating cheesy wotsits followed by pizza in the garden and then an episode of Mad Men. In my defence, if we had not finished the bottle, it would have remained half open whilst we were away at Rydal. And that would have been a waste.

Xmas Tutti Fruti - Sixth Bottle (B5), 26th-28th June 2019

I am so pleased with this Xmas Tutti Fruti. It has a dark sweetness to it that really works.

The bottle was opened on a Wednesday and finished on a Friday - which was an exhausting day at work. It being half-year end, I had 13 house completions to do, and the last three did not happen until 15 minutes before close of business. My stress levels increased through the day and were only gradually deflated through the administration of wine and pizza during the evening.

Blackberry Wine - Seventh Bottle (B1), 7th March 2019

A fabulous bottle of wine. This is smooth and fruity with an excellent blackberry taste. I chose it because we are now on holiday (a 300 mile drive north tomorrow - eek) and this deserves a celebration.

As always before going on holiday, it was a difficult and long day at work as I tried to get everything done. So what better way to mark the occasion than a take-out pizza, an episode of Celebrity Bake Off and a more than decent bottle of home made wine? Now I need to give some serious consideration to packing.

Part of our journey north on holiday

Rose Petal Wine - Third Bottle (A6), 21st December 2018

Blimey, that was a busy day! The sort of day that by the end of it only a take-out pizza and a bottle of rose petal wine will do. It being the last working day of the year, I had 15 house-completions, plus finalising a complicated land deal in Otley. It became apparent at about 6 p.m. that this was not going to happen, so I wished the two remaining people in the office a Merry Christmas and drove home, somewhat dazed by events.

The rose petal wine was less rose-y than usual, which made for a more rounded drink. It certainly slipped down nicely.

Orange Wine - Fourth Bottle (B5), 8th-9th August 2018

This bottle had all the appearances of one about to explode. Its cork was protruding from the neck and I thought it wise to remove this under controlled conditions. In fact, the wine was flat with no danger of firing its contents out. But drinking a bottle of orange wine is no sacrifice. Claire and I are both working hard and a couple of glasses of Orange on Wednesday night were most welcome. Neither of us had the energy to cook so we took full advantage of the take-out pizza place round the corner. Our lentil moussaka was saved, instead, for tonight and it was fabulous. A red wine would have gone better but the orange was fine.

Rose Petal Wine - Ninth Bottle (A5), 28th April 2018

We ate mushroom and evil sausage pizza while drinking this wine. The sausage was outrageously spicy and one of those that starts sedately but then explodes into hotness in your mouth. It was fabulous. Rose Petal Wine went well with it - the flavour is distinct enough to hold its own.

Our evening continued in front of the stove watching Primary Colors - a film I had wanted to see when it came out in 1998. It was a thinly veiled exposé of Bill Clinton's rise to power, and brilliantly done. The acting was mostly superb and it raised interesting questions about corruption, politics and whether lying and cheating for the greater good can be justified.

Prune & Parsnip Wine 2018 - The Making Of...

February is not my favourite month. I don't think it falls within my top ten. The only good things about it are Valentine's Day (which is overrated), Shrove Tuesday (and we usually forget to have pancakes) and Prune & Parsnip Wine. Otherwise it is cold and wet and dark. Yesterday was particularly poor. It pissed it down all day. I had been looking forward to a quiet weekend in which I could do helpful things in the garden. It has certainly been quiet and actually I got into the garden today (4th February) and started clearing our patch of grass land (a failed experiment which mostly produced buttercups).

The base ingredients

Today, though, has been a perfect day to begin my Prune & Parsnip wine - a day when I haven't needed to be anywhere or do anything. I started off by dicing 4 lbs of parsnips (being extra careful not to sever my fingers) and boiling these in 16 (UK) pints of water. I did this in two halves and each half got 30 minutes of simmering, once the water containing the parsnips had come to the boil.

Half the parsnips chopped up and in the pan

While the first lot was on the hob, I chopped up 1 lb of prunes and put these in the bucket with 5 lbs 9 oz sugar.

All the prunes and sugar

Once the parsnips had received their allotted boiling time, I poured the water into the bucket, catching the parsnips in a colander. These were put in the bin - I suggested them as a pizza topping but Claire was not keen.

I added the yeast and a bit more than a teaspoon each of nutrient and pectolase the following morning (Monday). Whilst the wine was in its bucket the aroma was pure parsnip - not something I remember from previous batches. I stirred it once or twice a day and put the wine into its two demijohns on Friday evening, 9th February. To avoid liquid frothing through the air trap and all over the kitchen, I left a large gap in each demijohn, storing excess wine in a bottle. Saturday morning I started the topping up process, which will probably take a few days.

This is, by far and away, the brownest of all my wines.

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

Strawberry Wine - Third Bottle (6), 4th February 2018

I opened this bottle as a direct comparison for Strawberry 2017, which I bottled this afternoon. We had a difference of opinion: Claire preferred the more recent vintage whereas I liked this one better. We drank it to home-made pizza with molten mozzarella - the lining to the roof of my mouth has disintegrated - and watched an episode of QI. It being a Sunday night, I am drunker than I should be and am trying to sober up with bush tea. So far this is less successful than I would like. Still, tomorrow is another day.

Blackcurrant Wine - Fifteenth Bottle (A4), 4th June 2017

I opened this bottle on Sunday night after an active weekend in which I discussed the merits of Bonkbusters at Book Group (very few, it turns out), ran through the wood shooting people with a  laser gun, and celebrating my brother's 50th birthday. A worrying number of party guests asked whether I was older than Chris. Which means they thought I look at least 52. I'm forty-bloody-six. How very dare they?

It was a relief to have some quiet time with a bottle of blackcurrant wine (always a good flavour), though we had Rachel and Duncan around to share it and a couple of take-out pizzas. A thoroughly satisfying weekend.

Rhubarb, Elderflower & Mint Wine - Final Bottle (4), 24th March 2017

Friday night was 'Neighbourhood Pizza Night'. Liz and David at number 33 had the idea and made the pizza, Angie & Phil brought bread, Claire supplied the tiramisu and I took along a bottle of wine. Rhubarb, elderflower & mint was chosen as one of my best and we drank it as an aperitif. Everyone liked it; Angie still remembers my Potato wine and anything compared to that is nectar. The mint was noticeable in this bottle, which is always beneficial. We had a lovely night, full of conversation and laughter, and at the end of it the walk home took rather less than two minutes.

Blackberry Wine - Thirteenth Bottle (C3), 20th-21st August 2016

It is unusual to drink half a bottle of wine once one has returned from a restaurant. On Saturday night, Claire and I ventured out to a new pizza restaurant on Street Lane, with it Neopolitan wood-fired pizzas. Sounded fabulous. There was, however, a distinct lack of a wine list. The place was not licensed, so I made the best of a bad situation by having a non-alcoholic cocktail involving mango and ginger beer. Within minutes of our food arriving a small boy at the next table vomited profusely. Beige liquid showered out of his mouth, and the restaurant was quickly filled with the smell of Dettol as waitresses came running with mops. We ate quickly, rushed home and opened a bottle.

Christmas Tutti Fruti - Second Bottle (B6), 23rd January 2016

A televisual extravaganza and unusual pizza were the accompaniments to this bottle. Claire and I wrapped up warm, ventured into our Attic Room and watched the first episodes of Bleak House and Torchwood Series 3. I have seen both before, and both are terrific (in very different ways), but Claire has seen neither.

The pizza flavours were: spinach, baked egg & cured ham; and beetroot, pine-nut & feta. Both worked brilliantly. The wine, of course, was delicious. This is an excellent vintage of Christmas Tutti-Fruti - there is a richness and darkness to it, and in fact that describes both Bleak House and Torchwood: Children of Earth.