Japonica Quince Wine - First Bottle (5), 2nd-3rd September 2021

Not a terrible wine by any means. I'm not sure it tastes of much, though, other than an overly dry white wine. 'Sharp' will be an adjective that I shall overuse on this page. It is not as dry as the Quince I made about a decade ago, but it is approaching that. Claire suggested adding a sugar syrup and that worked, though did not make the wine any more interesting.

We drank most of the bottle on Thursday, though I had the final glass on Friday before Book Group to celebrate being on holiday. This coming week we will walk The Herriot Way.

A Cake I made on 3 September. I have no memory of this.

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

Blackberry Wine 2020 - Sixth Bottle (A3), 19th September 2021

Blackberry Wine feels like a proper Sunday night bottle. One that you can relax into like a favourite sofa. It had been a gentle weekend full of entirely pleasurable nothing much. On Sunday that involved walking the suburbs of North Leeds in search of elderberries and making both bread and a ginger & marmalade cake (note to self: the marmalade was a flavour too far). Then in the evening we had a Padian chicken curry, drank this wine and watched The Crown. The curry involved me sucking on a chili by mistake. Emergency yoghurt was required.

Ginger & Marmalade Cake

 

Orange Wine 2020 - Fourth Bottle (B4), 15th August 2021

It was my first full day back home after two glorious weeks on holiday, and it was a restful, relaxing near-ordinary day. Okay, so I did about two and a half hours work, but I also made a cake (gooseberry orange drizzle), had a short walk, bathed with Claire, started my blackcurrant wine and watched an episode of The Crown. We also drank this bottle of orange wine to smoked haddock fishcakes, which was an excellent combination. Both are strong flavours and I could understand not liking either. However, I think both are fab!

Gooseberry & Orange Drizzle Cake

Xmas Tutti Fruti 2019 - Eleventh Bottle (C4), 12th September 2021

This bottle marked the end of a week's holiday. We had spent most of the week in Wensleydale and Swaledale walking the Herriot Way in glorious sunshine. If anything, it had been too hot. Sunday, though, was a quiet day in which I failed to pick any elderberries. In the evening I was feeling strangely anxious about work. Monday was to be my first day back in the office after 18 months of home-working. Change never sits well with me. The wine was delicious, which helped.

No photos taken on 12 September, but here is one from the Herriot Way

Elderberry Wine 2019 - First Bottle (B3), 4th September 2021

I left this vintage two years before opening the first bottle. As a consequence I have avoided a disappointing thin and metallic elderberry wine. This bottle was a fine elderberry: rich and dark, with a hint of real wine.

Duncan and Rachel are here: our first overnight visitors since the Before Times, and our house is tidy! We had a lovely evening which started with negronis and ended with bush tea. Then tomorrow we go to Aysgarth to begin a 52 mile walk round the Herriot Way. Wish us luck!

Taken on 5th September - at Aysgarth Church

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

Magnolia Petal Wine 2019 - Third Bottle (5), 9th August 2021

I took this bottle with me to the family holiday in Wales because Claire thinks it is horrid and she is remaining in Leeds. Mom, Pop and Rachael all disagreed. They were enthusiastic in helping me finish the bottle. This was towards the end of a lovely day, which began with Pop and me going on a five and a half mile walk and ascending Bryn Teg. I had planned to go further but Pop had not brought walking boots and climbing hills with an octogenarian in sandals would have been a disaster. Still, it would have hastened the inheritance.

Spending this much time with my father was a delight. The Alzheimer's is taking its grip, but he is still very much Pop and says that on the whole he is happy. And that is the important thing.

Pop and me at the summit of Bryn Teg.

Rose Petal 2014 - Final Bottle (B2), 10th September 2021

I opened this bottle, anticipating that I would have to pour it down the sink. Not a bit of it: the wine had matured nicely, whilst keeping its rose flavour. It had not developed that off-sherry taste that most of my wines acquire on age.

This bottle was drunk in celebration of having completed The Herriot Way, a 52-mile walk in the Dales over the previous 4 days with Rachel & Duncan. It had been a wonderful holiday and the wine was chosen specially for Rachel.

Duncan, Claire and Rachel - at the very end of 52 miles.

Mixed Flower & Nettle Wine - First Bottle (3), 30th May 2021

I had expected this wine to be one of my failed experiments. From its ingredients we have nicknamed it 'Compost Wine'. On the basis that it was likely to be horrid I took it to Newcastle so that we could share the pain. It is with some surprise, therefore, that I can report that this was Quite Good. It has a smoother taste than pure dandelion. Sooz said it was akin to sherry that is not Croft Original (the only sherry permitted in the Taylor household) - so not a total success. Andrew and I had the lion's share.

Sunday was an excellent day, starting with a visit to the South Tyneside coast. It was shrouded in mist whilst the rest of the country enjoyed blazing sunshine. In the late afternoon I went on a sunnier walk with Judith over the Town Moor and in the evening we feasted.

The South Tyneside Coast on a misty day

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

Prune & Parsnip Wine 2020 - Second Bottle (2), 23rd May 2021

I am a weak man. After Saturday's excesses I thought that I would have an evening away from the booze. But then Claire said that she would quite like a bottle opening and I found myself in the cupboard under the stairs fishing out a bottle of Prune & Parsnip. Oh well.

The day had been excellent. I spent much of the morning wandering around York trying to see it as a tourist might (and there were lots of tourists there). Then it was Big Breakfast and a game of Scrabble with Mom & Claire - Proper Actual Scrabble rather than playing virtually on-line. I lost badly, but that is only slightly important. The wine was actually a fitting end to the day.

Our Scrabble Game

Blackberry Wine 2019 - Twelfth Bottle (A3), 28th April 2021

This bottle came at the end of a day's holiday which had involved a walk round the rural parts of Bingley (yes, there are some), Ethiopian leftovers, and being propositioned by a man on the Leeds-Liverpool canal. I was graceful in my decline (I hope) and somewhat flattered.

The blackberry wine finished off the day nicely - it is a great bottle, full of juice - but did mean that neither Claire nor I could concentrate on a subtitled television programme.

Bingley Five Locks - on the Leeds-Liverpool Canal

Rhubarb Wine 2019 - Seventh Bottle (B5), 25th April 2021

Whilst not sparkling clear, this wine is a pretty colour. It has retained its pale pinkness and has a dry white-wine taste to it. We drank it on Sunday night, after I had returned from an 8 mile walk round St Aidan's Nature Reserve and before Line of Duty. I am on holiday this coming week and we have had to postpone our Shropshire excursion for a second year in a row. So, again, I am walking in Yorkshire. Today's walk was lovely - the bird sanctuary was a cacophony of gulls and geese, making a party out of nesting season. The riverside was dotted with apple trees, all in blossom. And I was in such a good mood that being forced to retrace my steps when presented with a collapsed bridge did not feel like an irritation.

The collapsed bridge (plus footpath on the other side)

Xmas Tutti Fruti 2019 - Fourth Bottle (B6), 2nd-3rd March 2021

Another fine bottle of Xmas Tutti Fruti - a light red that is easy to drink. The only notable thing to happen either day is that we have booked a holiday. Perhaps a foolish thing to do in these uncertain times, but I am hopeful about this one. Admittedly it is, like my last three holidays, a walking holiday in Yorkshire. But this time it is the Herriot Way - a 50 mile circular walk over four days, staying in posh hotels each night. Rachel has organised it and my inner Yorkshireman is to be suppressed. Come September I will be ready to splash out on fancy accommodation and haute cuisine. 

Some abandoned headphones
encountered on a morning walk

Rhubarb Wine 2017 - Final Bottle (C5), 28th February 2021

Sunday felt like the second day of Spring. There were blue skies all day and it could have been late April. It was a perfect day to walk 13 miles, taking in Newlay Bridge, the Leeds-Liverpool canal and Kirkstall Abbey. The population of Leeds was out, enjoying the release that good weather brings.

Once home I made a chocolate cake and we spent the evening eating fish pie and watching The Crown. A bottle of rhubarb wine figured, and during this Claire floated the idea of maybe drinking real wine more often than we do might be nice.

Kirkstall Abbey behind a carpet of crocuses.

Gooseberry Wine 2020 - First Bottle (6), 21st February 2021

Claire requested a wine that was white and sharp and nice. Though I ran through a few options that fulfilled two of the three, the end result as always going to be Gooseberry. I am also being trained by Claire to break my rule of waiting a year before having the first bottle of anything. Her argument is that if the wine is nice at the point of bottling, why wait any longer? As always, she has a point.

This gooseberry wine was fabulous - white and sharp and nice.

The day had been a typical Sunday - make a cake in the morning (Cranberry Bread - a total success) and go for a local walk in the afternoon. Happily the gang of threatening looking teenagers I encountered down an alleyway merely said "Hello" rather than mug me.

Cranberry Bread

The recipe.

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

Prune & Parsnip Wine 2021 - The Making Of...

Saturday 6th February was a dismal day. I woke to heavy rain and it did not let up throughout the lighted hours. When Claire suggested that I drive to collect the week's groceries rather than walk to Chapel Allerton, I took little persuading. Whilst I prefer to buy my parsnips from the independent Fruit Stall, carrying home 4 lbs of them together with my other shopping in a downpour would have been entirely miserable, so I drove to Sainsbury's instead.

Prunes and Parsnips

I left the wine-making until Sunday, 7th February, which was a much more productive and happy day. I managed to have a 5 mile walk, do a modicum of bassoon practice, make a 'Fly Leg' cake (no flies were harmed in the process) and make my Prune & Parsnip wine. The wine making was done whilst listening to the whole of Hansel and Gretel on Radio 3 - such a fabulous opera, and I know nothing else by Humperdinck.

Parsnips, sliced and in the pan of water

Anyway, to make the wine I sliced 4 lbs of parsnips into small bits and put them into 16 pints of cold water, bringing this up to the boil and then simmering for 20 minutes. (This was done in two lots.) Meanwhile, I snipped up 1 lb of prunes, each prune into 4 or so pieces, and put these in my bucket along with 5 lbs 8 oz sugar. When the parsnips had boiled their 20 minutes, I poured the water into the bucket through a colander and threw out the vegetables.

An enthusiastic fermentation

On Monday morning I added a teaspoon of pectolase, a teaspoon and a half of nutrient and two teaspoons of yeast (though I started the yeast first in a jug with a bit of sweetened water, because I am suspicious of this yeast brand). The wine fermented enthusiastically in its bucket until Saturday morning, 13th February, at which point I put it into its two demijohns, this time listening to Stravinsky's Pulcinella Suite. The wine is far lighter, far more golden, than it has ever been before.

The wine in its demijohns

Elderberry Wine 2018 - Fifth Bottle (A4), 24th January 2021

Claire still thinks that this elderberry is a little young. I'm not certain that I agree. There is a hint of fizz, which is never that positive an attribute in red wine. 

A panorama from my walk

Sunday was a fabulous day, despite an under-par bottle of elderberry. I had a frosty 8 mile walk (bumping into Zoe), made a Victoria Sponge (I have decided that I now make cakes), played Scrabble with my mother, ate sausages, finished the bread & butter pudding, watched The Crown and had an hour's call with Paul.

Bumping into Zoe

Blackcurrant Wine 2019 - Seventh Bottle (B1), 15th January 2021

Having had a massively busy December where I was working 1,000 miles an hour, it is nice to have a gentle January. This week I was able to take Claire's birthday off entirely (and made a Swiss roll!) and on Friday lunchtime Claire and I went for a walk in Moortown Park, which had turned into a winter wonderland. The amount of snow we have had this week has been unusual.

In the evening I cooked a tortilla (chorizo makes everything better), we watched ER and drank this bottle of blackcurrant wine. It was an unexciting yet thoroughly satisfying day.

 

The Swiss Roll that I made

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)

Xmas Tutti Fruti 2020 - The Making Of...

Christmas this year, in The Year of The Pestilence, has been different around the country. Those in southern England must celebrate alone. In the north, we were allowed to mix with one other household, but only for the day. Claire and I stayed put - our first Christmas in only each other's company since around 2006. And we had a lovely time. Being married to one's best friend is such a gift, and in this year of enforced isolation has been vital.

We spent much of the day on a 12 mile walk, which I had said would be nine, and watching The Crown (now that I have finally relented and subscribed to Netflix). The first thing I did, though, on Christmas Day, was to empty the freezer of fruit, weigh it and put it into the bucket to defrost.

Much of the fruit

In the order in which this came from the freezer, this wine has:

• 1 lb 10 oz blackberries
• 6 oz yellow raspberries
• 2 lbs 9 oz gooseberries
• 2 oz blackcurrants
• 1½ oz rosepetals
• 1 lb 2½ oz elderberries
• 4 oz red raspberries
• 1 lb 9½ oz damsons
• 3 oz red gooseberries
• 1 lb ½ oz sloes
• One clementine (2 oz) (which should have been a satsuma or a tangerine, but never mind)

That all comes to 9 lbs 2 oz of fruit - more than plenty for a double batch.

After attacking the fruit with a potato masher

It defrosted until Boxing Day morn, at which point I attacked the fruit with a potato masher and poured over 12 pints of boiling water. The wine received 5 lbs 11 oz sugar in time, but I only had 3 lbs of sugar at that point in the house, which went in and was stirred until it dissolved.

The discarded fruit

I added two teaspoons of yeast (a new variety - and I checked it was working before adding it), two of nutrient and one of pectolase together with the additional sugar on 27th December. By New Year's Eve, where in normal years we would be in Cambridge, this was ready to go into its demijohn. This was a slow process enlivened by a You're Dead to Me podcast about vampires in Romantic Victorian Literature, and it was clear that I could have used two pints less water in the recipe. The wine is an alarming and wonderful burgundy-with-a-splash-of-purple colour, but it looks like the sediment will be huge.

Two demijohns of alarmingly coloured wine