270

Seldom in my adult life have I consumed less alcohol than over the last few months. Perhaps while recovering from the flu that laid me low in early ‘07; maybe while providing moral support for my late wife when she quit smoking in ‘11. My consumption had been moderate enough for long enough that reducing it to next to nothing has had next to no effect, beyond possibly helping me lose a couple of pounds (lbs.), while undoubtedly saving me a few pounds (£££).

I’ve every intention of tentatively breaking the drought this evening by having a glass of red wine, specifically some 2021 ‘Alta Expresíon 270 Ribera del Duero’. This Spanish wine, made from the Tempranillo grape, is reckoned by James Button at Decanter to offer “intense black fruits with plenty of oak spice and touches of tobacco, chocolate, earth and herbs”. If I’m in any fit state, I’ll come back to add my own thoughts about it later.

Added six hours later. It was delicious: well-rounded wine with black fruits & spice notes as promised, supported by unobtrusive tannic underpinnings. I couldn’t pick out tobacco, chocolate, earth or herbs as such in the chord of flavours it presented, but, whatever its constituent parts, the overall effect was a harmonious one.