Blackberry Wine 2020 - Seventh Bottle (A2), 2nd October 2021

On the dankest of Saturdays I have been out in the rain thrice. The first two were to buy provisions for the coming week. The last was to check if the local garage was selling petrol. We are in the midst of a fuel shortage because (thanks to Brexit - the gift that keeps on giving) there are not enough lorry drivers. And as soon as the Government says "Please don't panic buy", everyone does. There have been queues of traffic at any open garage for the last week. On Saturday evening I joined that queue (short, when I was there) and celebrated my success at home with a bottle of Blackberry Wine, a lamb curry and an episode of The Bridge.

Taken on 2 October - the result of a 
startled cat after I sneezed.

Xmas Tutti Fruti 2019 - Thirteenth Bottle (C6), 22nd October 2021

Christmas Tutti Fruti, when done well, is one of my best wines. It has depth and is just a delight to drink. That this was my first booze for five days may have helped. It was a gentle Friday night after a busy and productive week, and one where reheated macaroni and Taskmaster were exactly what was needed.

A rainbow on my way home from work.

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

Elderflower, Mint & Rhubarb Wine 2019 - Fifth Bottle (3), 4th August 2021

Despite Covid 19, we made it to Rydal this year, and I cannot express what a joyous week it has been. Playing again in an orchestra that I love and with my favourite group of people has just been wonderful. 

This wine was the first of three opened during the Rydal week, after a day of walking in brilliant sunshine with Claire and Judith - so there was an element of it feeling earned. Nick claimed he was allergic to mint so didn't have any, and Kirsty pulled a face, but otherwise this bottle was enjoyed.

Claire and Judith on a long, hot walk.

Orange Wine 2018 - Eleventh Bottle (A3), 22nd July 2021

Mostly I made quiche whilst this wine was in play. England is having a heatwave at the moment - so a perfect time to be baking. We are off to Cambridge on Friday evening and need an easy meal during the journey - hence the quiche. A glass or two of orange wine to help the process along is never a bad thing, particularly when the pastry starts falling apart. Orange wine, though, is not one to write reams about: it is a reliable white that has a citrus kick. Finishing the bottle was no hardship.

Oh - I did my first ever Lateral Flow test.

My quiche and lateral flow test

Orange Wine 2019 - Final Bottle (4), 11th June 2021

We are having a proper June. May was exceptionally wet, but this month has been glorious: hot and sunny. Our garden is looking wonderful, and we drank some of this bottle outside parading the grounds. The rest was drunk to an Indian Takeout and an episode of ER. Perhaps not the most exciting of Fridays, but precisely what I wanted. The orange wine matched that description too.

Our garden in the evening sun

Rhubarb, Elderflower & Mint 2020 - Second Bottle (5), 5th June 2021

The week has been a veritable social whirl: to York on Tuesday for Mom's 80th, Book Group on Friday (albeit virtual) and then a proper dinner party at Angie & Phil's on Saturday. Yes, we spent most of it outside, but that was because it was a lovely summer's evening rather than a Government Edict for the Protection of Society. It was a marvelous evening and felt so normal. Life will return to much as it used to be and we are on the first steps of that.

I took this wine at Liz's request and it is an excellent bottle. So much so that I may make a double batch this year.

Angie's recipe for Rhubarb & Custard Cake

Elderflower, Mint & Rhubarb Wine 2019 - Fourth Bottle (4), 29th May 2021

We have just returned from a fabulous weekend in Newcastle, and this wine was one of our Saturday bottles. Judith was effusive in her praise and rightly so! Elderflower, rhubarb and mint is a delight.

Much of Saturday had been spent driving on the hottest, sunniest day of the year so far in a car where both the fan and the air conditioning were broken. As First World Problems go, it isn't the worst. We had a lovely evening, however, with Bob, Judith & Sooz. It is so good to spend time together again.

Spending quality time with the in-laws

Damson Wine 2020 - Second Bottle (4), 19th-20th May 2021

Well, this is rather splendid. There is a distinct damson taste, it has a fizz to it, the colour is glorious and it achieves a lightness that makes this wine an entirely pleasant drink. Now that I have a source of damsons I will make this one of my regulars. There was little of note to happen on Wednesday when we opened the wine. On Thursday I went for more blood tests to see if there is anything sinister causing my weight loss (Spoiler - there isn't). And it tipped it down both days. Oh for some sun!

A cactus is flowering.

Xmas Tutti Fruti 2019 (C2), 15th May 2021

I am so pleased with this Tutti Fruti. I obviously did something right when making it. Though it is clearly a red, it has a lightness and a refreshing quality that one would expect from a white.

Saturday was a gentle, undemanding day, in which I got caught in a downpour and lost to my mother at Scrabble (by only 7 points!). I said at the end of April that we were desperate for rain, and there hasn't been a dry day since. One day I'll be able to mow the lawn.

We finished the day by watching Bill with the Snarkalong Film Club - a comedy from the Horrible Histories Team about Shakespeare as a young man. I had expected it to be excellent, and it was merely amusing.

The downpour in which I got caught

Rhubarb Wine 2020 - First Bottle (B4), 8 May 2021

The brown sugar I used when making this rhubarb wine has definitely had an effect. There is no hint of pink to this wine - it is instead a golden yellow. Its taste has a burnt element to it, but not in an unpleasant way. This is an unusual rhubarb wine but I think one that is rather good.

We drank it on Saturday evening after a lazy, wet day. The rain hardly stopped, but after the driest April for a generation that is a good thing. I played my mother at Scrabble, getting my highest ever score of 510 and in the evening we watched The Kid who would be King with the Snarkalong Film Club, which was entirely satisfactory. So, a gentle Saturday (which makes for a dull read - apologies!)

Taken on 8 May

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

Blackcurrant & Raspberry Wine 2020 - Second Bottle, 11th-13th April 2021

Sunday was a day of many pleasures. The best of these was spending time in the garden of 60 Heworth Green, huddled around an outdoor stove chatting with Chris, Kate and my parents. It has been months since I have seen any of them and though we were there for only 90 minutes, it was glorious. We were snowed upon but that just made it all the more memorable.

In the evening we had another virtual dinner party with Rachel & Duncan, where this was our second bottle opened, after a bottle of Prosecco to celebrate Cornelia Gruntfuttock's birthday. The wine is excellent and I will save a bottle for Rachel & Duncan to taste when we eventually see them in person.

The snow came later

Magnolia Petal Wine 2020 - First Bottle (3), 8th-10th April 2021

Distinctly odd but (depending on who you ask) not unpleasant. If the person you ask, however, is my wife, she will tell you just quite how unpleasant it is. Claire took one sip, after a suspicious sniff, and pulled an almighty face as if I had made her drink hemlock. I asked her to repeat the process for the camera. Showing how much she loves me, she did. Thereafter the remainder of the bottle was mine.

The wine does have a strange taste - there is a bitterness that lurks below the surface and there is a hint of tea to the flavour. It is not as good as 2019's batch but I honestly don't think the wine is a disaster. Adding a dash of sugar-syrup helps. Claire has requested that I never make this again, which is a little harsh. This year's harvest has been destroyed by a late April frost and snow showers, so she is certainly safe for the time being.

Claire enjoying the wine

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

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.

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

Prune & Parsnip Wine 2020 - First Bottle (3), 6th February 2021

This Prune & Parsnip is entirely acceptable but not quite as good as previous years. Claire describes the taste as 'more urine-y', which I suspect is not a compliment. It is thinner, more acidic and less like sherry. Maybe future bottles will be better.

The day felt wasted, though I don't know why. I wrote a letter to Ellis, played Scrabble with Mom and stocked up with groceries at Sainsbury's. The weather didn't help: nonstop rain which was oppressive and frustrating.

The view from my car window, on our drive.

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

Crab Apple Wine 2015 - Twenty-Ninth Bottle (E6), 31st January - 6 February 2021

Claire is of the opinion that this wine has deteriorated massively in quality and refused to drink any. I think that whilst it was not at its refreshing best, it was entirely fine so I drank the bottle over the course of the week, beginning with a Lockdown Dinner Party with Rachel & Duncan and finishing with an incomprehensible film version of Charlie's Angels. I suspect that my lack of comprehension was alcohol related.

Our garden on 2 February

Xmas Tutti Fruti 2016 - Eleventh Bottle (B5), 28th-29th January 2021

Claire's verdict on this bottle was 'Better than a midweek bottle, not quite good enough for the weekend'. That is quite niche in its categorisation. My verdict is that it has the dryness of real red wine but (despite all its fruit) neither its complexity or depth. I had planned a booze-free night on Thursday but Claire returned from work irritated by bureaucracy so I was easily persuaded. Also I had a rare day of feeling low about the virus. Thursday's continuous drizzle didn't help.

Photo taken on Sunday,
Cake finished on Thursday

Rhubarb Wine 2018 - Eleventh Bottle (C4), 22nd January 2021

My hypothesis that Claire can drink batch C of this wine without complaining appears to hold water. There were no comments about its terrible flavour, and it was no effort to finish the bottle. We drank it to haddock & chips from the chippy round the corner, which was a treat. It was a cold night to wait outside for them - but better that than being huddled with strangers inside the shop. At home we had no tomato sauce, so I made do with damson ketchup instead.

I took no photos on 22 January, but here is a photo
of a new shirt that I bought recently from Blake Mill
which I absolutely love. It's called 'Statues' apparently.

Ginger Wine 2021 - The Making Of...

Saturday 9th January began as one of those bitterly cold sunlit days which is the best sort of winter day. Friday's snow had turned from damp and malleable to hard, crunchy and entirely satisfying to walk over. Claire's gender non-specific snowperson was still standing and no-one had stolen its hat. There were a fox's footsteps leading down our drive and everything in the neighbourhood looked different. We get snow so rarely, far less than I remember from my childhood, that I become giddy when it is here.

Ingredients in the snow (plus a bird's footprints)

The walk to Chapel Allerton to buy ingredients for ginger wine was a pleasure, particularly my route through the park watching children hurtling down the hill on their sleds, colourful against the white.

Ginger

I had intended to start this wine on the Saturday but the day ran away from me, so winemaking was a task for Sunday instead. I weighed 6½ oz ginger and, having read an article in The Guardian saying that removing skin from ginger was unnecessary, I gave it a quick scrub instead, sliced it thinly - skin and all - and put this in my bucket. Next I took four lemons and sliced the outermost peel from them, avoiding the pith, and put this in the bucket along with all their juice (11 fluid ounces). I then minced 1 lb of sultanas with the food processor and this went in too. My final winemaking task for the day was to boil 3½ pints of water and pour this over everything.

Lemons and peel

On Monday lunchtime, a day where the snow has vanished entirely, I boiled another 3½ pints of water and put this into the bucket with 2 lbs 8 oz of sugar. I let this cool for five hours and then added a teaspoon each of yeast, nutrient and pectolase.

The dry ingredients (except for sugar)

It took well over 24 hours before I was convinced that the yeast was doing its thing, but eventually it clearly was. I left the wine until Saturday 16th January before putting it into the demijohn - and there it is bubbling away: opaque and dark yellow.

Ginger wine in its demijohn