The Wine Buyer

 

Red-haired Kendall,

Medic and don

Blessed the dale

Where he was born.

Irishman jovial,

Clever from a lad,

A sixth sense oenological –

Which since mere youth he’d had –

Like sediment alluvial

Allowed the flow – quite easily –

Of sentiments he gleefully

Imparted rather ceaselessly

With the help of Queen Mab

To gustatory dreamers,

And with the gift of gab

To mercantile schemers

Eager to bring

The very best to King’s;

He regaled you too

With secrets for the chosen few
Knowledge he gave to you –

To brother and to friend,

And then sometimes again

To sundry unschooled men

Who found the five-housed Zen

Of fine red wine,

Of green and purple
Grapes refined,

Beyond their ken.

His left eye roved right.

His right eye roved left.

Cross-eyed? Well, yes!

But of insight

Re: vintage,

Of second sight –

Predicting boon,
Foretelling blight –

Of expert knowledge

On behalf of College:

Far from bereft.

With inspiration all on fire

He was King’s most esteemèd buyer.

With tastebuds all agog.

Eschewing glug, despising grog,

Giving short notice –

For a nighttime

Pastime

Rare – exceedingly!

Compelling as reading the

Golden Lotus:

If you could spare the time,

If you would be so kind,

Right after dinner –

(“No rest for the sinner–”)

You were expected

(You’d just recollected)

In his suite

Of rooms –

Tout de suite!

(Or doom)

To taste a suite

Of whites,

And then before bedtime

Happenstance sublime!

A suite of reds to test:

French Claret – and the very best!

Your presence – requested –

His invite – accepted –

You sipped and tasted

Without getting wasted;

Taste-Testing ended,

You homeward wended.

Only to find

In the ripeness of time

That this little party

This brief education –

Was just preparation –

For a trip to the Marché

Of the numero uno

Wine-producing nation.

A hop across the Channel

Before there was a tunnel

To the quintessence:
Darkling Dionysian presence;

Your fabulous foray,
To the Primo

Place for a soirée:

To the pays formidable!

A La Table!

To a meal

Graced by a Bel Ange,

In the land of la vendange.

And the Buyer’s master-stroke?

You travel back in time

With a deep dark wine

To La Belle Epoque,

Then forward to Les Temps Modernes:

Dejeuner sur l’herbe with a dry sauterne.

Once in Calais

You check into the hotel Grand Palais.

There you rub shoulders

With men much older:

With professionals, with private buyers:

Sensate, earthy men serving their kin,

And commercial men: high flyers;

There you meet men with extra-ordinary

Sensory perception;

There you declaim in English glottals.

There you lay in fine French bottles

For a grand reception.

There you're well able

To provide for High Table,

And every other table, vino:

Bordeaux and Pinot

And ruddy Claret:

Vine of Bacchus,
Sign of prowess, 
Poured on shrine of god and goddess,
The god-man's ego-syntonic spirit:

Silken wine of matchless merit.

There you learned

Tricks of the trade:

How the elixir

Was marketed,

How the ambrosia

Was made.

How to read a vintage

And now, a useful adage:

No need to grapple,

If you please:
“Buy on apples,

Sell on cheese.”

Glorious sentimental

Red-headed Kendall

Of the wandering eyes,

Perhaps of proclivities

Dickensian,

But for his sincerity

Gargantuan:

A kindly elder,

Friend and mentor,

He prepared you for a lifetime

Of apprehending the bottle divine

(La dive bouteille

According to Rabelais)

A lifetime, then,

Of intelligent pleasure,

Of knowing how to take the measure

Of the science and the culture

Of the grape;

Of recognizing

The shape

Of expectation:

Fermentation,

Regulations,

Even, God help us –

Experimentation:

Experts’ quarrels,

Metal barrels,

Dry whites, bubblies

Hybrids, rosés.

And the contribution

Of geography

And topography

To every nation’s

In vino veritas:
In vino caritas

Transformation;

To the cultivation

Of a refined

Distillation

Of craft and time:

To making a living lyric

Of rhythm and rhyme:

Gods’ panegyric,

Drink divine:

Mixture flawless:

Mankind’s solace,

Premier cru grand

Wrought by hand

And mind:

Fine wine.