RAISE A GLASS

A one-time work colleague used this expression quite a lot: “I couldn’t get for going.” Which is probably gobbledygook to most of you; but I totally understood it.

Should you care to know what it means – maybe? – it is this. That whatever you do, you just can’t get ahead of yourself.

This week in my life there have been so many loose ends, there are people I should have spoken to but didn’t; and life generally has been higgledy piggledy. Which is a little reflected by my eclectic choice of sips this week!

El Toro Coffee Liqueur Tequila (£15.99, 70cl, Aldi) is rich with the scent of cold black coffee. Chocolate notes are enticing and there’s a good lick of soft, approachable vanilla. It is made with Tequila Blanco, and it delivers a punch, that’s for sure.

I sipped it on its own with ice; and in a glass with some Coke. I’m told it’s rather tasty poured with ice and topped with Irish Cream.

I’ve had a go-to box of red wine in the kitchen as my life higgled and piggled. It was in the form of a NICE Malbec (RRP £21.50, widely available including Sainsbury’s, Ocado and Amazon). The box holds the equivalent of 18 small glasses of wine.

The box is now empty, but trust me I didn’t have all those glasses.

The wine, while not a sensation, was moreish and pleasant with its dark black fruits and plummy notes.

It reminded me that these boxes are rather useful things to have around. Once opened they can last up to six weeks. You have a sip when you want, without that feeling of having to finish a bottle when it has been opened.

Finally, a wine from an organic winery in Sicily: Azienda Agricola Cortese.

This white wine Nostru Catarratto Lucido IGP (£12.50-12.99 from independents, including Cork of the North, Hoults, Kwoff, Waples Wines) is from grapes native to Sicily, grown in the south east of the island.

The wine is kept on its lees (the dead yeast from fermentation) for five months, which is frequently stirred back into the wine. This adds body and a lovely mouthfeel. It has notes of white peach and flowers; of herbs and a little baking spice.

It was very lovely indeed, at the end of a chaotic week.

Jane is a member of the Circle of Wine Writers. Find her on social media and online as One Foot in the Grapes.