The other day we went to our favourite restaurant for lunch. Personally speaking I much prefer dining out  at lunch time, especially as, since moving to Spain, I find it increasingly difficult to cope with their restaurant opening hours. Dinner, in this country, will commonly start at around 10pm, and perhaps finish in the early hours of the morning – far too late to digest a good meal properly. Eating at lunchtime does, however, leave me with a slightly different dilemma….. what to drink? Apart from the obvious consideration of food pairing, the next question is possibly how much alcohol you want to take on board in the middle of the day. This can certainly be a factor the style of wine that you might select. 

For example, a month or two ago, I found myself tempted by a  Marques de Griñon, Dominio de Valdepusa Petit Verdot at lunch time. (I am particularly fond of this wine having shared a bottle with its maker, Don Carlos Falco, on his estate several years ago.) The only downside of this deliciously ripe, rich, concentrated wine is the alcohol – pushing close to 15%. At this degree it is probably far too powerful to enjoy as luncheon wine simply because it can leave you reeling, or at the very least, feeling quite soporific. Suffice to say that either working or driving may well be out of the question after quaffing such a bottle.

When I started to write this post it wasn’t really intended to be an advertisement for albariño, but it is true to say that lower alcohol wines, such as ours, are probably far better suited to drink at lunch time than their more alcoholic counterparts.

The other day we went to our favourite restaurant for lunch. Personally speaking I much prefer dining out  at lunch time, especially as, since moving to Spain, I find it increasingly difficult to cope with their restaurant opening hours. Dinner, in this country, will commonly start at around 10pm, and perhaps finish in the early hours of the morning – far too late to digest a good meal properly. Eating at lunchtime does, however, leave me with a slightly different dilemma….. what to drink? Apart from the obvious consideration of food pairing, the next question is possibly how much alcohol you want to take on board in the middle of the day. This can certainly be a factor the style of wine that you might select. 

For example, a month or two ago, I found myself tempted by a  Marques de Griñon, Dominio de Valdepusa Petit Verdot at lunch time. (I am particularly fond of this wine having shared a bottle with its maker, Don Carlos Falco, on his estate several years ago.) The only downside of this deliciously ripe, rich, concentrated wine is the alcohol – pushing close to 15%. At this degree it is probably far too powerful to enjoy as luncheon wine simply because it can leave you reeling, or at the very least, feeling quite soporific. Suffice to say that either working or driving may well be out of the question after quaffing such a bottle.

When I started to write this post it wasn’t really intended to be an advertisement for albariño, but it is true to say that lower alcohol wines, such as ours, are probably far better suited to drink at lunch time than their more alcoholic counterparts.