Bought a bottle from our local supermarket – <br />They were clearing their cellar <br />Of the odds and sods forgotten and forsaken <br />At the bottom of their bins. <br /> <br />You never know how it's going turn out: <br />Corked, turned to vinegar or barely drinkable: <br />Maybe better if you're lucky….very. <br /> <br />Took our chances with a Cahors 2000 <br />For no other reason <br />Than we like Cahors <br />And someone's taken the trouble to store it <br />In controlled conditions <br />For some eight or nine years. <br />If ever it's going to have the chance <br />Of being good or great <br />On the back of a thristy throat <br />Then it's now (or never) . <br /> <br />Uncorked. <br />Not corked, but ever-so-slightly vinegary, maybe. <br />Decanted. <br />Carafed. <br />Sort-of ushered up a bit of a wino's prayer… <br />Are you allowed to pray for wine? <br />If so, to Belteschazzer, Bacchus or le Bon Dieu: <br />Who knows? <br />Well anyway, <br />Time bided and a little bit of room temperature <br />Did it no end of good. <br /> <br />Not going to lose you (or me) <br />In a whole lot of guff about <br />'Romantic tones of smokey, autumnal fruits' – <br />My palette is not nearly so sharp or sophisticated, <br />But it knows what it likes, <br />And this…. <br /> <br />It likes.<br /><br />Tony Jolley<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/nine-years-on/
