Iain Moss writes I was born in the UK but have spent the last 40 years living all over the world with my wife and two daughters working as an IT consultant. I currently live with my wife in Malaysia. Wine has always been my hobby and my passion but I am now focusing full-time on wine as a second career. I have a wine consultancy company in Kuala Lumpur and am currently in the process of establishing an education centre in a traditional kampong-style house, constructed from sustainable hardwoods, situated in a large tropical garden in the country just outside Kuala Lumpur. I hold a WSET Level 4 Diploma in Wines and hope, one day, to embark on the Master of Wine programme.
Ode to the Gewürztraminer grape
O roseate orb of fragrant might,
Thou blossom’d jewel kissed by light,
Through Alsace night and German morn,
Thy spicy soul is gently born.
Not forged for crowds or common folk,
But those who cast aside the yoke,
Midst noble grapes thou art not shy,
Thou dare to kiss the perfumed sky.
Thy vines, they cling to slopes with pride,
Where sun and shadow softly bide,
Atop green hills in mountains’ shade,
Thy fresh and sweet perfume is made.
Thou art no peasant grape to press,
But queen in aromatic dress,
With lychee's laugh and rose's breath,
A siren sweet that conquers death.
Thy hue, a blushing rose gold gleam,
Dawn, drunk on blushful Hippocrene,
Shines like a gem in nature’s crown,
Before which humbler grapes bow down.
Thy bouquet speaks in tongues of old,
Of spice markets and travellers bold,
Of roads of silk in lands sublime,
And fruits that hail from tropic clime.
Thy palate hints at heaven’s bliss,
Rosewater, lychee, ginger’s kiss,
A honeyed dream on trembling tongue,
Where Turkish treats and spices sung.
Thy finish comes, oh such delight,
As every mortal sense takes flight,
A long and death defiant end,
As heavenward thy soul doth wend.
So oft misunderstood, maligned,
By palates dull or hearts confined,
Yet he who knows thee, loudly tells,
In thee, the heart of summer dwells.
So let us raise our glasses high,
To one who walks the scented sky,
Gewürztraminer, vivid flame,
May bards forever praise thy name!
Image by diane555 via iStock.
