Dark flavours of damsons and blackberries, a touch of figs and chocolate and some spice from oak ageing.
It has an aromatic prettiness (violets, lavender) before those deep, dark flavours (fruits of the forest and chocolate) take over.
Altano Douro Quinta do Ataide Reserva, Portugal 2011 (from £12.99, Cambridge Wine Halifax Wine Companyy) Touriga nacional is to the Douro what cabernet sauvignon is to Bordeaux, providing the deep, dark flavours of the area's best red wines.
Plus, the food is so blisteringly good, you need to know about it: duck soup with depths, a salted beef cheek curry full of sweet, dark flavours, deep-fried fish nestling in aromatic herbs and fresh chillies.
The Chicago Tribute reported in 1882 that the former was the more popular choice for the cocktail in that city, but I prefer the fuller, darker flavour of bourbon, though I'd recommend giving rye a try if you come into a bottle.
Siren Barrel-Aged Caribbean Chocolate Cake Stout (£6, 330ml, 8.5%, Oddbins) From Berkshire's Siren, one of the best of Britain's ever-expanding craft brewing scene, this is a superbly rich, complex and winter-warming brew that evolves in the glass, offering dried citrus peel and lemon zestiness as well as the titular darker flavours of cocoa and roasted coffee bean.
I go for the no-nonsense dark chocolate flavour – thick, creamy, and not too sweet – though the Drunken Sailor shake, with peanut butter, caramel, and whiskey, has been known to sway me.
Meanwhile, our local market is full of cavolo nero (black kale to you or me) right now; its dark, minerally flavour is sensational in an olive oil-rich sauce that completes a very sophisticated-looking pasta starter or light lunch dish that takes hardly any time at all.
"My espresso has that crisp acidity you get from Granny Smith apple flesh that pinches around the inside of your mouth, but it's also got a vanilla sweetness, maple tones and rich, dark chocolate flavour notes which I wanted to extenuate in my signature drink," he said.
The dark, roasted flavours of coffee make a fine match for blackcurrant's deeply fruity kick.
