A little wine...

Ah, how I love a new project; particularly one that involves alcohol.

I’m at an age when, for some reason, making my own wine seems to be a good idea again. Of course I’ve tried oenology before, but using a kit doesn’t really count if you are a serious enologist. No, the true winemaker makes his wine from ingredients he has foraged from the countryside, although I have to say that I’ve made some passable wine-like liquid in the past - at least I managed to pass it.

I still have some of my old winemaking kit and have been toying with the idea of having a go at a country wine or two for a while now. I guess that it’s all part of the movement that seems to have grabbed so many of us as we grow our own veg, keep chickens for eggs, make jams and chutney, and generally spend fortunes on growing and making foods and drinks that would be far cheaper if bought in the supermarket.

Maybe the refound popularity of gardening and baking programmes on the telly might have something to do with it. Of course it could be that we are sick of the speed of our lives and the invasive technologies that many of us, me included, are addicted to.

Maybe we are all looking for the good life.

Felicity Kendal…

Anyway, about the wine.

When I was in Wales last week I collected a bag of elderflowers. They smelt heady and pungent and when I examined the flower head I saw each one was actually made up of hundreds individual tiny flowers. This was the stuff to make wine with and, instead of the cordial I’d been planning, I decided to make elderflower wine my first country wine experiment.

I found a recipe on the internet, got myself a lidded bucket, some yeast, and away I went. It’s been bubbling for a few days now, during which time I’ve ordered a couple of demijohns, bought a country winemaking book, and am planning what wines to have a go at next. Dandelion, elderberry, parsnip, blackberry, and carrot are all on the list. The elderflower will need racking into a demijohn next week and then it’s the long wait until Christmas.

Bottoms up… I hope,