Fashion is as fashion does.
We crave the new, eschew what was.
’Twas ever so, and wine, you know,
is not exempt from fashion’s flow.
In Pharoah’s court, they have advised us,
the stylin’ sip was from Abydos.
Assyrian kings (a fearsome bunch) preferred
Caucasian wine with lunch.
Around the time they walked the stage,
Georgian wine was all the rage.
At Cana’s nups, guests filled their cups
with wine that Jesus just made up!
Cru Merlot from H2O?
Evangelists insist it’s so.
Bad old Nero, books attest,
thought Falernum much the best.
Then ’twas wise to think as he,
and dangerous to disagree.
Celts loved beer until one day,
a sip of Volnay came their way.
After that, the annals say,
they opened wine bars, spoke français.
The Spanish had a brilliant notion:
carry vines across the ocean!
New World wines we came to see,
are ripe and plush and tannin-free.
Just the sort to please the masses.
Devil take those upper classes.
What goes around comes back, you bet.
Old ideas new trends beget.
That murky stuff the ancients made
and formed the basis of their trade,
is now the coolest wine of all.
“A bit of spritz, a trace of lees,
a cloud of haze, some orange, please!”
That’s the way to place your order
if you’re keen to cross the border
from passé to freakin’ hot.
Stay the course? Don’t be silly.
Wine moves on, friend, willy nilly.
What’s next up I dare not say.
That would give the game away.
This week in the wine corner . . .
THURSDAY JUNE 28, 3-6 PM — CANA’S NUPS
2016 Montenidoli “Tradizionale” Vernaccia di San Gimignano, $21.95
2017 G.D Vajra “Rosabella” Rosato, $17.95
2016 Roberto di Filippo, “Sallustio” Montefalco Rosso, $18.95
FRIDAY JUNE 29, 3-6 PM — FEARSOME BUNCH
2017 Château Payral Bergerac Rosé, $13.95
2017 Vigneau-Chevreau “Clos de Rougemont” Vouvray Sec, $25.95
2017 Ampeleia “Unlitro,” $18.95 (liter)
-Stephen Meuse