One of life's great pleasures is grazing fruit off trees or bushes. I remember in the Douro (at Quinta do Vallado) finding a cherry tree laden with an abundance of ripe cherries. I spent an idyllic 10 minutes gorging myself. They were fantastic. In our garden we have a young cherry tree but the pigeons take all the cherries before they've had a chance to ripen. But I'm currently enjoying the raspberries and strawberries which are now in season. Of course, supermarkets bring us these fruits all the year round. But while they look good, they just don't taste right. Last year I planted 30 raspberry canes, of three different varieties. They've gone a bit wild this year, taking up more room than I anticipated. But it's an immense pleasure to go out, pick some, and eat them there and then (I've just come back from a garden grazing trip, where I took this picture).

Interestingly the flavour profile changes as they ripen, from tart and bright to overly sweet and 'fatter'. It's a bit like grapes, I suppose. I prefer red wines that aren't made from grapes picked too late: I think the modern tendency is to pick very late, when the grapes are saggy and the fruit is dead, and sugar levels have risen to the degree that the resulting wine is overly alcoholic.