The impact of the lunar eclipse on my glass of wine was zero because I was wisely sipping hot lemon and ginger tea at 4:30 this morning, a chilly wind rustling the nearby palm trees loudly. I had slept for 4 hours, then woke up to see if the moon show was worth my time. It was, with clear skies in southern Spain.

Earlier in the evening I had 2 glasses of wine at the Rose Bar winebar in La Cala de Mijas after a long trek along the beach to see the full moon rise.

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​The Albariño from Rias Baixa was excellent, the relatively light Ribero was good but not exciting. Note to self: try it with the roast chicken. My assessment had much to do with how well each paired with my slightly spicy mushroom and gambas risotto from this very good kitchen. The moon didn’t factor in.

My very good mood was, however, a factor, as our emotions so often are when we drink wine. It was a beautiful evening and for the first time in 2.5 years after 3 major surgeries I traveled with my Nikon, which is noticeably heavier than my iPhone. I took it for a walk as the tide was coming in and the moon was reflected in the lagoons. It felt like meeting up with a wonderful old friend on the beach.

Here is what Jamie Goode at The Wine Anorak had to say in 2017 about tasting wine on fruit and root days, a trendy wine industry topic for the past couple of years as biodynamic moved from cultish to mainstreamish (never quite one or the other). He cites a research paper that made a stir in the industry when it came out a couple of years ago.

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