Today marks exactly 2 weeks since my last sip of anything remotely alcoholic, concluding a short break from tasting, drinking and imbibing of any sort. It’s probably not a good sign that I consider this to be worth writing about, but as I’ve not spent more than a few days without drinking some sort of alcohol since my early 20’s, it did seem like a pretty sensible idea for an experiment. The timing was also ideal; anyone living in Barcelona knows how unpleasant the humidity can get over summer and any opportunity to make it more bearable is worth taking. That, and trying to keep a glass of wine at a constant temperature in August is an absolutely maddening experience.

I was genuinely curious to see how it would go. There are more than a few pieces of anecdotal evidence floating around from people who stopped drinking about how they became imbued with energy, a new sense of purpose and clarity of mind. I quietly suspect that these accounts are written by the same people who spend their lives patting themselves on the back via grotesque, ‘Morning Routine’ Linkedin posts, but it’s not impossible that they’re real. Would I experience the same sensations? There was a part of me that was quietly worried that it would be a dramatic change for the better and I’d be faced with a dilemma: would it be sensible to continue in a career that wasn’t healthy for me, regardless of how rewarding it is?

Fortunately, I needn’t have worried. The last two weeks have been perfectly fine if a little less interesting than usual. There was no grand change in my mood, energy levels or outlook on life. I was mildly more productive after lunch and I’ve probably lost a bit of weight as a result of not consuming any calories through wine, but that’s about the extent of it in terms of physical benefits. It was a mental break more than anything else, and a very welcome one at that. The constant rotation of tasting, drinking, writing notes, studying and trying to put it all together is surprisingly draining and it’s been nice to remove even an element of that cycle for a short period of time. It’s been refreshing if not exactly ground-breaking.

I’ve also been very thirsty, metaphorically speaking. I’ve missed the intellectual connection with wine, even if it was nice to break away from thinking about it on a daily basis, and more than once I’ve thought ‘That would be lovely with X’ or ‘I would kill for a glass of Y’ right now. Which suggests to me that, long term, there may be a healthier middle ground to take, one that allows me to continue tasting my way around the world of wine, whilst perhaps not drinking quite as much of it, which is roughly the plan moving forward.

What I found most interesting was the sort of wines I missed the most. It wasn’t the grand, complex and utterly beguiling examples that I’ve tasted. It wasn’t the most powerful, the most persistent or even the most elegant. It was mainly the simple but delicious wines I drink most often: the rustic tang of young, Langhe Nebbiolo, the supple nature of Beaujolais, the peppery savoury flavours of Croze-Hermitage, the wonderfully refreshing acidity of Albariño. There’s something wonderful about sharing a bottle of really special wine, but there’s also evidently something just as engaging in the well-made, simpler expressions of the world. That’s something to bear in mind the next time I get frustrated at the price points for the worlds most desirable grape juice.

In short, it was a very useful exercise, and one that I’ll probably do again in the future. Absence really does make the heart grow fonder and also allows for a bit of time to look around and gain a bit of perspective. As a result, I can say quite honestly that my life is a lot more rewarding when there’s a glass or two of wine in it, and I’m very much looking forward to seeing various shades of gold and ruby flashing in their glass arena tomorrow. A little more balance, a better understanding of what I need to do and off we go again!