Rose Petal & Orange Wine 2019 - The Making Of...

This year I have scaled back my rose petal wine production. I think that I have more bottles of rose petal in the house than any other flavour and 2018's vintage was poor. Going cold-turkey, though, was never the plan so I have made a single batch of rose petal & orange.

The Rose Petals

Obviously November is not the time of year to be gathering rose petals. In anticipation of this flavour, I started freezing roses past their first flush of youth from June. Mostly they were white roses, as that is our most prolific bush, but I did manage to get a few reds in there as well.

Oranges are available all year round so I left this wine until November and I decided to buy my oranges from the Fruit Stall in Chapel Allerton, albeit that this meant the wine is about 80p more expensive than it might otherwise be. They were large and juicy oranges, though, and I only needed five of them.

On Saturday evening, 2nd November, I thinly peeled one orange and covered its peel with a pint of boiling water, leaving this to one side. I then juiced all five oranges, which gave me a pint of juice, and put this in my bucket. Next I measured two pints of frozen rose petals, which is half what I used last year, and put these into the bucket with 3 lbs of sugar. I boiled 5-and-a-half pints of water and poured this in, releasing a heady aroma. On Sunday morning I added the water that had been covering the peel (but not the peel) and a teaspoon each of yeast, nutrient and pectolase.

The wine in its bucket

Ordinarily I would have put this in its demijohn on Thursday or Friday, but I was out both nights, so it waited until Saturday morning, 9th November. It was a quick job and I am left with a peach-coloured liquid.

The colour on racking was beautiful - a light dusky orange - and the wine has cleared entirely. I couldn't tell from my tiny sip, however, whether this was going to be any good or not. It didn't need much sugar, but I dissolved 2 oz in half a pint of water and poured that in.

The wine when first in its demijohn

If you want to see how this wine turned out (hint: very well indeed), click here

Xmas Tutti Fruti - Seventh Bottle (B6), 2nd December 2018

I needed Sunday. Whilst the previous week at work had been a busy one, Saturday was manic. It was the WYSO concert (Siegfried Idyll, Mendelssohn's Piano Concert No. 1 and Beethoven 6) and when I wasn't playing, I was organising things (keys, gifts for the soloist, rearranging the church, tea and coffee). The concert went brilliantly and we drank a bottle of real wine to celebrate. Consequently, Sunday was quiet and restful. I finished by book (The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner - excellent), did crosswords and ordered roses for the garden. Oh, and drank a bottle of Christmas Tutti Fruti, which is one of my better batches - as fruity as the name implies.

Rose Petal Wine and Rose Petal & Orange Wine 2018 - The Making Of...

Roses in our garden

This summer has been good for roses. Our white rose has produced blooms in abundance and the red rose doubled its output from last year's two flowers. Meanwhile in my parents' garden Pop has been under strict orders to collect as many roses as are available. Claire and I went over on Saturday 14th July to visit, though in truth the primary reason was to collect rose petals rather than filial duty. Mom has been away in Nebraska and I do try to see my father at least once when she is absent. Collecting wine ingredients is as good an excuse as any. It was a lovely evening - Pop cooked us smoked mackerel, a food I disliked as a child but now love, and we chatted about friends and family.

Rose in my parents' garden

Back home, on Sunday morning, I started the wine and again have made a double batch of rose petal and a single batch of rose petal & orange. For the 'pure' rose petal I measured 8 pints of rose petals and put them in the bucket. I minced 1 lb of sultanas, juiced two oranges and measured 5½ lbs of sugar. All these went in the bucket, were covered with 15 pints of boiling water and stirred round until the sugar dissolved (Liz had come round and helped with this bit).

The rose petal & orange was more fiddly. I began by peeling three oranges very thinly, doing an excellent job of avoiding the pith (for once). I put the peel in a bowl and covered it with a pint of boiling water. I then juiced six oranges (including those three) giving me a pint of orange juice. This and 4 pints of petals went into a bucket with 3 lbs sugar and 5½ pints of boiling water.

Most of the ingredients for both wines

That evening I put yeast, nutrient, pectolase and tannin into each wine (1 teaspoon of each of the last three into the orange, about a teaspoon and a half into the pure). On Monday morning I poured the water that had previously covered the peel into the rose petal & orange, throwing out the peel.

The wine went into its demijohns on Friday evening, 20th July, with all solids having been strained out. All demijohns are brick orange in colour, with rose petal & orange being ever so slightly darker.

The Rose Petal & Orange is on the left

If you want to see how the Rose Petal & Orange turned out, click here.

Crab Apple Wine - 25th Bottle (C5), 17th June 2018

A lazy Sunday evening bottle. We drank most of it before the food was on the table - which is about par for the course, but managed to save enough for one glass each to roast poussin and seasonal vegetables. By the time pudding appeared, the wine was gone and we had to make do with bush tea thereafter.

Earlier in the day I was uncharacteristically practical. We have bought two self-assembly rose arches and, under Claire's direction, I managed to assemble one of them. There was very little swearing involved. Now all we need are climbing roses.

The wine continues to be tasty - and I had thought that crab apple wine was best drunk young.

Dandelion Wine - First Bottle (3), 14th April 2018

I am extremely pleased with this bottle. It has elements of a medium sherry, but with a lemon zing and something unusual besides. That will probably be the dandelions. It has a dark gold colour and was clear all the way down. I shall ration this flavour to one a year because dandelion wine is one of those that keeps on improving.

It was a suitable choice for the day, which has been the first day this year that has felt spring-like. No rain and the sun made a showing for part of it. I spent a couple of hours in the garden, cleaning the eventual rose-bed. Claire tidied borders and pottered, some of which involved pulling up dandelions.

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

Rose Petal Wine - Fifteenth Bottle (A4), 25th February 2018

This really was an excellent bottle of wine. It had a true white wine taste with only a hint of Eastern Promise. We drank it in anticipation of a rose bed - I spent a couple of hours in the back garden, removing more of our lawn. Eventually we will have arches covered in rambling roses. Right now we have a kidney-shaped patch of earth.

Whilst Claire and I were drinking this bottle, Rachael and family were having a very different experience. A shop literally round the corner from her in Leicester exploded, killing five people. Rachael is fine if rattled. She heard a tremendous bang. A split-second later her house shook and a few minutes after that the police came round, insisting she evacuate. Terrible, yet vicariously exciting.

Round the corner from my sister

Rose Petal Wine and Rose Petal & Orange Wine - The Making Of...

When Claire and I were married, 19 years ago, Betty Rumsby gave us rose vouchers as a wedding present. We bought two, both white. One was a rambler which produced a fine array of blousy roses and it was with sadness that we had to leave this when we moved house. The other was a bush. We planted this in the front garden that had no sunlight and dreadful soil. It put out the occasional rose but mostly sat and sulked. We took this with us and finally it is happy. This year it produced several white roses with a scent of sherbet and as they faded I collected the petals for my wine.

Our Rose

This and the photo on the top

left are two of my mother's roses

Meanwhile, Mom was also busy snipping roses from her garden - a mix of pink and red - freezing them and handing them over when our lives coincided. By Wednesday 5th July I had enough for my wine making plans.

That day I measured out 8 pints of rose petals, the amount required for a double batch, and put them in my bucket with 1 lb of minced sultanas, the juice from two oranges and 5½ lbs of sugar. I poured over 15 pints of boiling water (releasing a fabulous perfume), left it over night and added the yeast and a teaspoon each of nutrient, pectolase and tannin.

This year, at Claire's suggestion (and she is Always Right), I have also experimented by making a Rose Petal & Orange wine single batch. On Saturday 8th July - a day on which I have done little but enjoy the summer weather - I thinly peeled three oranges, avoiding the pith, and covered their peel with a pint of boiling water. I measured out 4 pints of rose petals and put these in the bucket with the juice from six oranges (nearly a pint of liquid) and 3 lbs sugar (so no sultanas this time, hence the increased sugar ratio). I poured over 5½ pints of boiling water and left it over night. Next morning I added the water covering the peel (though not the peel itself, which was discarded), the yeast and a teaspoon of each of the chemicals.

I put the Rose Petal Wine into its demijohns on Monday 10th July and the Rose Petal and Orange into its demijohn on Thursday 13th July, fishing out a dead beetle before I did so. The overall colour of both wines is a pinky-orange, but the Rose Petal & Orange has a lighter house-brick colour and is the more attractive.

The Rose Petal & Orange is on the left - but

it is difficult to discern the colour difference.

If you want to see how the Rose Petal & Orange turned out, click here.

Rose Petal Wine 2015 - The Making Of ...

Our rose bush has been splendid this year. It is the last year that we will see it in bloom and this has been its parting gift. Of all the plants in our garden that I would like to take with us, this rose is at the top of the list. It was a wedding present from Betty Rumsby. But it is unmoveable and no cuttings have taken root. I hope future owners will continue to enjoy its summer display.

Throughout June I have been collecting  roses as they wilt and putting them in the freezer. I gave strict instructions to my parents to do the same in their garden. Mom's roses are mostly pink and red, whereas ours are white (apart from one red rose that puts out one flower a year. I snipped this as soon as it was polite to do so.) Therefore, we have an attractive mix.

Mom and Pop came over yesterday, bringing their roses with them. I measured them today (19th July) and between us we picked 12 pints of petals - enough for a triple batch. I put these in my bucket and added 7 lbs 12 oz sugar, 1 litre white grape juice (thanks Waitrose), 500 g of minced sultanas, the juice of 3 oranges and 18 pints of boiling water. The sultanas are a grape juice substitute, but I think will work. The whole mix smells divine.

I put in the yeast late on Sunday evening and I have been worrying all week that this was too soon and there would be no fermentation. However, it all seems to be okay. I also added two teaspoons of nutrient and tannin and one of pectolase. Over the days the petals have been getting increasingly brown, and they have leached their brown into the liquid. I was hoping for something pink and have ended up with dun.

I put the wine into its demijohns on Friday 24th July. It took a while and there was nothing good on the radio to keep me company. I had far too little water - there could easily have been another four pints in the recipe.

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

Rose Petal Wine - Second Bottle (A6), 27th June 2015

We spent the night in York and I brought along a bottle of Rose Petal wine. It was a beautiful summer's day - the first we have had this June. Warm, sunny, still. Our first glass was drunk in the garden, surrounded by the roses from which this wine was made.

Jenny Laycock came over. I haven't seen her since we were both teenagers and it was lovely to catch up. She has hardly changed. Jenny said I looked just the same, which is patently untrue. Aged 16 I had yet to start wearing glasses and had a full head of eighties hair. But it was nice of her.

Christmas Tutti Fruti - Sixth Bottle (A3), 19th June 2015

At the beginning of this week I had hoped that we would be exchanging contracts on the new house today. It is looking increasingly unlikely that it will happen next week either, and we are meant to be completing on 3rd July. Bloody solicitors! So I drank this bottle in a state of irritation, albeit to a pork in plum sauce stir fry. Both the wine and food helped put things in perspective. This, I think, is the best Xmas Tutti Fruti I have made - it is red wine with a rose petal taste, which is both odd and exotic. I am already collecting roses for this coming December.

Rose Petal Wine 2014 - The Making Of ...

Following the success of Rose Petal 2013, this flavour has been promoted to 'double batch regular'. Therefore both I and my parents have been collecting rose petals from our respective gardens. Much to Claire's shame, I have also taken petals from strangers' gardens too. Actually it was only one; when going round the North Yorkshire Open Studios, an artist's husband was tending a rose bush which had pink flowers and a glorious smell. I asked and he was only too happy to help - so we have some of Kim Coley's roses in the mix.

On Friday night Rachael and Myles were in York (Paul is off climbing Ben Nevis) so I took the opportunity to collect a large bag of frozen petals. It was a lovely evening - Myles is steadier on his feet and has learnt the art of conversation. No vocabulary, of course, but he babbles in the pattern of speech and I found it difficult not to laugh.

I started the wine on Sunday morning, 29th June, whilst listening to Broadcasting House. It has 8 pints of rose petals - a variety of pinks, whites and darkest reds - two oranges, 5 lbs 4 oz sugar, 11½ pints of boiling water and two litres of juice. Both litres should have been white grape, but only one was. The other was 'white grape and peach juice drink' as Aldis had run out of the former.

When I poured the water over the flowers the house was filled with an exquisite fragrance.

Back from an Airedale concert - Nielsen's 4th, which until the performance I found tedious - I added a sachet of yeast, two teaspoons of nutrient and a teaspoon each of pectolase and tannin.

This is what fermenting rose petals look like

I put this into its two demijohns on Thursday night, 3rd July, after a particularly tedious orchestra rehearsal with 'The White Rose Orchestra'. Suitably named for this flavour, but I hope the wine tastes significantly better than the orchestra sounded. I used a collander to scoop out the petals and thereafter getting the liquid into its demijohn was rapid work. Still, I did not get to bed until after eleven.

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

Rose Petal Wine 2013 - The Making Of ...

Ordinarily I get to December and worry that I have made too much wine. This year that thought has struck in July. I did not intend to make a double batch of Rose Petal Wine. It just sort of happened.

My father had strict instructions to collect withering petals and freeze them while Mom was in Nebraska. Meanwhile, I harvested roses from our garden - mostly white, but two blooms from the red. We both overperformed and each collected enough for a single batch. It would have been a tragedy to see all these petals go onto the compost heap, so I have made a double.

I collected the York rose petals today, 21st July, having spent some of the weekend there before Rachael, Paul and Myles move to Leicester. Have I mentioned how adorable Myles is? He is now 6 months old, and gurgles away happily.

Anyway, back home I measured eight pints of petals and put them in my bucket. I covered these with 2 litres of grape juice, 5 pounds of sugar and eleven pints of boiling water. Thanks to Joanne, who left me a comment on an earlier post, I have found proper white grape juice at Aldi. Rejoice.

The recipe calls for two lemons, but I didn't have any, so I squeezed the juice of two oranges instead and added that.

On Monday morning I added the yeast, two teaspoons of nutrient and a teaspoon each of pectolase and tannin. This all sat around smelling lovely for five days, until I put it into its demijohns on Friday 26th July. I'm sure it smells no less fragrant, but the airlock means I cannot tell. The recipe could have used another pint of water. However, I did spill a bit, as the wine bounced off the rose petals collecting in my sieve. I love the colour, which is a dark, dusky pink.

If you want to see how the first bottle of this wine tasted, click here

Rose Petal Wine - Second Bottle (1), 14th July 2012

I brought this bottle to York with me, to share with my parents and Chris. After all, the majority of the ingredients came from Mom's garden. And this year her roses are doing splendidly. They must thrive on cold, damp conditions.

I only got one glass from this bottle - the rest was snaffled by my family and all enjoyed it. Mom particularly so. This bottle was better than the previous Rose Petal wine, which is surprising. As I only had the one glass I consoled myself with several helpings of real wine, and consequently failed to follow Henry IV Part 2, which was being shown on telly. I gave up a third of the way in.

Elderflower - Bottle B6, 2nd-3rd June 2011

In anticipation of foraging for elderflowers tomorrow, I opened this bottle last night. Claire is on holiday this week and gave a pint of blood for the first time yesterday. Actually, she reckons she gave rather less and was timed out. But as the nurses gave no dire warning about drinking alcohol, I thought it would be safe to open this. I cooked a fish pie to go with it, and very nice it was too.

We have finished the wine this early evening, mostly inspecting our garden. It is currently glorious weather - real 'height of summer' heat - and it is lovely inspecting roses, a glass of elderflower wine in hand, feeling just that little bit unsteady.

PS Hello both Israel and Germany - delighted you are reading my blog!