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

Apple Wine 2019 - Second Bottle (6), 2nd-3rd December 2020

Definitely a mid-week bottle of wine, this one. There is nothing actively wrong with it, but it is neither interesting nor delicious. 

On Wednesday night Claire poured me a glass of apple wine as medicine. I was feeling entirely overwhelmed and panicky about work. At that point I could not see how I could get everything done - and I got up at 2 a.m. to do ninety minutes work (mostly redone about twelve hours later). By Thursday, though, everything was clearer and Claire said that my moustache was no longer drooping, so we finished the bottle and watched Taskmaster. All was right with the world once more.

The Neighbourhood Advent Window for 3 December

Blackberry Wine 2019 - Fifth Bottle (C3), 4th-5th November 2020

This is being written three days after we finished the bottle under discussion, which is always a mistake. I cannot, therefore, remember its taste but I imagine that it was a great deal like blackberry wine. 

On Wednesday I was fretting about the American election, as I was on Thursday, but not quite so hopelessly. I cannot understand how a man with so little grace, who is so blatant in his lying, bullying and self-centredness can remain as popular as he is. "Darth Vader? Sure, I'll vote for him."

Taken on 5th November on my morning walk

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)

Halloween Wine - Second Bottle (5), 23rd-26th December 2019

My office closed for Christmas on Friday and for most everyone else the atmosphere was all rather jolly. I went in on both Monday and Tuesday. On Monday, therefore (which is not a usual bottle of wine night) we shared most of this wine. I was feeling exceptionally glum and anxious about getting the last contract exchanged on Christmas Eve, and Halloween Wine helped my mood.

We finished it, sharing small glasses with Sooz and Andrew, on Boxing Day. Once I told them that the difference between this and Xmas Tutti Fruti was the chilli they claimed that they could taste this too. I think it quite obvious.

Oh - I did get the exchange on the 24th!

A photo I took on Boxing Day

Blackberry Wine 2018 - Fifth Bottle (B3), 16th April 2020

I thought this a terrific bottle of blackberry wine - all the earthy fruit that bramble wine should have. It was not an eventful day on which we drank it, but right at the moment so few are. I am struggling to stay motivated at work (at home, of course). Mostly because I don't have enough to do, but partly because I worry that there may not be a job at all when (if) all this is over. I don't know if it is apocryphal that it is a Chinese curse, but these are certainly Interesting Times. Curious that this does not translate to 'Interesting Days'.

A photo I took on 16th April

Strawberry Wine 2018 - Third Bottle (6), 14th March 2020

By special request, I took this bottle to David and Liz's, where we spent the evening eating Mexican food. The chilli and guacamole were fabulous, but I found the wine rather less so. It is too dry and doesn't taste much of strawberries. Liz, however, said that she really liked it.

Most of the evening was spent discussing the impending storm of Covid 19/the Corona virus. Having been entirely blasé about it, I am now worried about how much impact it will have on my life - physical, emotional, professional, financial - over the next several months. Wish us luck.

Our kitchen - taken on 14th March.

I had just got a brand new phone, and this 

was the first photo that I took with it.

Blackberry Wine 2017 - Twelfth Bottle (A2), 1st December 2019

I shouldn't leave it five days before writing up a bottle of wine, because I can never remember what I was doing the day I drank it and certainly there is no recollection of its taste.

I spent the morning exploring Beckett Street Cemetery, opposite Jimmy's Hospital. There are some fabulous gravestones there. The Victorians were very good at Death. The evening escapes me, though it obviously involved a bottle of blackberry wine. In other news, I am spending much energy worrying about a breach of copyright demand for several thousand pounds. I have employed solicitors.

Xmas Tutti Fruti - Ninth Bottle (A4), 17th October 2019

Tonight we have had the Wesleyan man around to discuss our finances and this always induces anxiety. To deal with this, after he had gone, Claire and I have knocked back a bottle of Tutti Fruti at shocking speed - particularly bearing in mind that it is a Thursday. And I'm walking to work tomorrow. The wine, though, is excellent and one of the very best Tutti Frutis that I have made.

Elderberry Wine - Ninth Bottle (A4), 22nd September 2019

What a fabulous bottle of elderberry wine, if I do say so myself. It is entirely smooth and all taste of metal has gone. A dark, rich wine that is the perfect accompaniment to nut-loaf and roast potatoes (for that is what we ate). We are to have a broadly vegetarian week because next week we go to Croatia, where I understand the diet is based on meat and fish. I feel ill-prepared for this holiday and have done little planning for it. Just thinking about it makes me nervous.

On Holiday in Croatia 

Ginger Wine - Third Bottle (3), 27th September 2018

It is not often that we open and finish a bottle on a Thursday night. But it is not often that we are less than 48 hours from a transatlantic flight. Also, it has been a busy day full of noise and a bottle of Ginger wine just seemed like the right thing to do. Claire and I have spent much of the evening in the kitchen pottering - Claire cooking, me washing up - and it has been lovely. We are both a little anxious about our upcoming holiday and a bottle of wine helps, particularly when it is as delicious and gingery as this one. Tomorrow I have 16 house completions to do, which in itself is quite daunting.

NB - This will be my last post for over a fortnight. Have a great couple of weeks, and tune in on my return.

Orange Wine - First Bottle (B1), 9th March 2018

There is water coming through our kitchen ceiling. This is not a feature one generally wants. 'Happily' this only started on Friday while Claire was in and it was dripping through a gap where pipes run down anyway. Dan Benn came round sharpish, stopped the pipe causing the problem and now we wait for a specialist plumber to fix it. The deal with the anxiety caused, Claire and I downed this bottle quickly - the wine is much the same as previous batches, if a little rougher - and retired upstairs early.

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

Crab Apple Wine - Twenty-second bottle (C2), 20th December 2017

I obviously care about work. Today I came home disappointed, frustrated and on the verge of miserable. I started the day needing eight exchanges for year-end and aiming to get four of these. This evening I cam home with having achieved only one, with three plot buyers having pulled out. It means, only, that the business as a whole will make slightly less profit for the year. But I find that I care about that. Despite it being a Wednesday, I knew that this would be a whole-bottle night - and crab apple is a fine mid-week bottle. With any luck, it will help me sleep. Over the last week I have had long periods of wakefulness - not exactly worrying about work, but with that always being a background hum.

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.

Crab Apple Wine - Sixteenth Bottle (A5), 7th May 2017

I can think of nothing interesting to say about this wine. We drank it. It was fine.

Currently I am totally wound up about Plusnet - who are meant to be providing us with a new, improved broadband. We dispensed with TalkTalk and (despite ordering Plusnet on 6 April) have been without internet for a fortnight. And it makes me so tense and cross. When I ring them they sound reasonable and apologetic and tell me everything will be working soon. But it bloody isn't and my heart races when I think about it.

*By way of update, we have finally been connected (on 17 May)

Orange Wine 2017 - The Making Of...

Today is the first day since 3rd March that I have not had stabbing pain in my jaw and that I have not been on a four-hourly diet of pain killers. It is 12th March - nine days after my coronectomy - and until half an hour ago I was starting to believe that everything would be alright. However, I made the mistake of trying to play the bassoon just now. I got no further than putting the reed in my mouth and realising that this was not a good idea. Now, of course, I am worrying that I will never play the bassoon again. Still, I have wine-making as my other hobby, and I don't need a working mouth for that.

Today, after a brief spell in the garden helping Claire to create a herb bed, I started making my orange wine. As ever, this is a double batch for which I needed 24 oranges. Earlier in the week I had picked up three 'family size' bags from Sainsburys. On the whole I prefer to avoid supermarkets for my fruit and veg, but in this instance my inner miser (which is rather less 'inner' than that phrase suggests) won out and I went for what was cheap.

Taking the outermost peel off oranges

I took the outer most layer of peel off 12 of the oranges, and for once was nearly successful in avoiding the pith. This took about an hour and I avoided boredom by listening to a crime drama with Meera Syal on Radio 4 Catch-Up. I have covered this peel with 2 pints of boiling water and I will pour the water (minus the peel) into my bucket when I return from work tomorrow.

Orange peel to be covered with 2 pints of water

I squeezed all 24 oranges, measured the juice (3¾ pints) and poured this into the bucket. To this, I added 9 pints of cold water and 5½ lbs of sugar. Because the water is cold I have not had to wait to put in the yeast and rounded teaspoon of nutrient. This year I am experimenting by not putting in a teaspoon of pectolase. My hypothesis is that the wine will clear without it.

Wine in the bucket

On Friday night (17th March) the wine went into its demijohns. This took little time as there was virtually nothing to sieve out - only a bit of pulp - but I was careful to leave a half-pint gap between the liquid and the top of the demijohn. I don't want a repeat of last month's prune & parsnip shambles with wine froth all over our bathroom. As ever, orange wine at this stage is the happiest of yellows.

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

Clove & Ginger Wine - Third Bottle (3), 12th-13th March 2017

I chose Clove & Ginger as Sunday night's bottle for two reasons. Firstly, it has virtually no alcohol. This is important because I am on antibiotics. Secondly, cloves are famous for healing tooth-ache. This is important because I am recovering from a coronectomy and my mouth is still not right. I made the mistake of trying to do ten minutes' bassoon practice. Just blowing down the reed (and making no sound) caused me to worry that I may never play the bassoon again. So, what about the wine? Its taste was certainly distinctive. Claire said that it would numb the mouth and stimulate the bowels. Well, the mouth was duly numbed, but I am uncovinced otherwise. The wine was far from unpleasant, but not one to drink by the gallon.

Rhubarb Wine - Eighth Bottle (B3), 8th-9th February 2017

This wine was opened to celebrate the fact that I am not going to jail.

In January I had a phone call from the Inland Revenue: they wanted to come and inspect some professional records I was meant to keep. My heart dropped and I felt sick. What records I had were scant and on checking the maximum penalty, I focussed on the word "imprisonment". The next 3 weeks were spent getting my papers in order and worrying. The inspection was on Wednesday and, of course, went without much of a hitch. So I remain a free man, able to enjoy a glass or two of rhubarb wine - a dependable mid-week bottle.

Fig Wine - Third Bottle (1), 14th January 2017

This bottle was certainly a hit. Rodney was in raptures about how good it was and wondered if he could order a case. (He can't.) Fig wine is fabulous - it has a deep figgy taste and is a delightful colour. It went splendidly with the lamb cous-cous and honeyed onions that Claire served as our main course.

I had been a little worried about the evening. I didn't really know Helen and Claire did not know her at all. I wasn't sure how well Rodney & Claire would get on and was anxious about awkward silences. Needless worry, of course. The evening was lots of fun, the conversation never stopped and we drank far too much.

Elderberry Wine 2016 - The Making Of...

September has been as warm as July this year. The middle two weeks were glorious. This is not something to complain about. However, it caused me to worry about the availability of elderberries. On Sunday 18th September I explored the area near Gledhow Wood Road where I had gathered elderflowers in June. I had expected trees dripping with elderberries and instead found scant pickings. Either the elderberries were black and ash-like, or they had been snatched by the birds. I went home disheartened with only 8 ounces.

A typical tree on my first attempt

The following Sunday I tried Stonegate Fields, which was only slightly better, and then the open area behind Stainbeck Road, where at last I found a couple of fecund trees. This still only produced 2 lbs of elderberries - not enough even for a single batch. That afternoon, without much hope, I drove to Hetchell Woods and walked down Kennel Lane. Ahead of me was a young couple carrying plastic bags. As I got closer, I saw that one of those bags contained elderberries. This was unwelcome competition. I greeted them with "I see we have exactly the same idea", told them my recipe, assured them that there would be plenty of berries for both of us, and then made sure that I overtook them.

Much better!

Quickly I found a field off Kennel Lane where I saw many elder trees hanging with black fruit. I went in and managed to fill my bags - my worries had proved groundless. This produced far more than the 6 lbs I needed for a double batch. The rest are in the freezer.

Stripping the berries from their stalks took about two hours, during which I listened to a Dum-Tee-Dum podcast. I crushed these in my bucket with a potato masher and added 5 lbs of sugar and 12 pints of boiling water.

On Monday morning, 26th September, I put in the yeast and a teaspoon each of nutrient and pectolase. After stirring twice a day I transferred the liquid into its demijohns on Friday night, 30th September. It is fermenting away and is the darkest of all my wines.

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