Welcome to the Poem of the Month for April 2016.
This month’s poem, and occasion, holds very special meaning for me. On this night eleven years ago, I first met my dear friend and fellow Port enthusiast Roy Hersh. At the time, I knew very little about Port. As a college English major, I used to drink a glass of Port while I studied – what else would you expect an English major studying 19th British Poets to do?
In April 2005, I was still drinking Port, and I still knew very little about it. I decided that I should probably seek out some advice, or buy a book about Port, or join a Port of the Month kind of club, or do SOMETHING to start educating myself.
I ended up posting in the Wine Spectator forum asking if anyone knew of a Port of the Month type of club. One of the responses pointed me to a Seattle-area Port expert named Roy Hersh.
A web search turned up several sites that had some articles on Port that he had written, so I emailed him, introducing myself as a “budding Port enthusiast”, and asked if he happened to know of any Port clubs, local tastings or any other ways that I might be able to education myself on Port. I was doing some web development as a hobby at the time, so I also asked if he had his own website where he posted his articles.
He replied the next day with a very thoughtful response (no he didn’t know of any Port of the Month types of clubs but that would be a great idea), and sent me a couple of newsletters that he had just started sending out to Port lovers in 38 different countries. He also mentioned that he was in the process of building out a website.
A couple of additional emails went back and forth, with me throwing out some website ideas to him, and he sending me links to Port sites and some other articles he had written. He eventually suggested that I come over for dinner, meet his family, and we could talk Port and websites. By the end of a wonderful meal, a bottle of 1970 Taylor Vintage Port and a lot of great brainstorming, we had a pretty great plan for the For The Love Of Port website (www.ftlop.com), and he ask me to be his VP of Technology for FTLOP. It was so much fun and was one of those night I would never forget. Fast forward 11 years. The website has grown and is one of the largest Port Wine websites on the Internet, with visitors from over 117 countries.
The year after we met, I went with Roy on one of his first wine tours to Portugal (incidentally, today, Roy leads five wine-related tours to Portugal and Madeira). I got to meet legends and luminaries in the Port trade, many of whom I call close friends now. We tasted over 200 wines ranging from Old Vintage Ports to amazing Portuguese wines, so it was really a crash course education for me that I have never forgotten. Finally, I met some other Port fans on that trip that still remain very dear friends to me today. Roy now leads five wine-related tours to Portugal and Madeira.
One of those friends from the 2006 For The Love Of Port Harvest Tour, Derek Turnbull, sent me an amazing Christmas present the next year – a rare book entitled “Wine, Women And Song”. It was published in 1884, and is a translation of poems written by an unknown medieval poet in the 12th Century. I have selected this month’s poem from that book in honor of wine and friendships.
Eleven years ago, sitting at Roy’s table talking about Port and websites, I never could have guessed how close of friends we would become, and how many other great friends, experiences and joy our mutual passions would us.
Enjoy
Stewart
John Addington Symonds – Translator
(1840 – 1893)
From Wine, Women, And Song: Medieval Latin Student’s Songs (1884)
Unknown Medieval Poet (c. 12th Century)
A Sequence In Praise Of Wine
Wine the good and bland, thou blessing
Of the good, the bad’s distressing,
Sweet of taste by all confessing,
Hail, thou world’s felicity!
Hail thy hue, life’s gloom dispelling;
Hail thy taste, all tastes excelling;
By thy power, in this thy dwelling
Deign to make us drunk with thee!
Oh, how blest for bounteous uses
Is the birth of pure vine-juices!
Safe’s the table which produces
Wine in goodly quality.
Oh, in colour how auspicious!
Oh, in odour how delicious!
In the mouth how sweet, propitious
To the tongue enthralled by thee!
Blest the man who first thee planted,
Called thee by thy name enchanted!
He whose cups have ne’er been scanted
Dreads no danger that may be.
Blest the belly where thou bidest!
Blest the tongue where thou residest!
Blest the mouth through which thou glidest,
And the lips thrice blest by thee!
Therefore let wine’s praise be sounded,
Healths to topers all propounded;
We shall never be confounded,
Toping for eternity!
Pray we: here be thou still flowing,
Plenty on our board bestowing,
While with jocund voice we’re showing
How we serve thee—Jubilee!
http://forums.winespectator.com/eve/ubb.x?a=tpc&f=6826053161&m=619107482&r=190101582#190101582
Oh Stewart I am so happy to have found your website. What a wonderful poem and story about your dear friend. Yay for great poems and literature and friends. Oh yeah and port.