Cong Cong Bo writes Cong has run an award-winning wine shop and bar in Cambridge, called Amphora, judged various wine competitions, writes for timatkin.com, and is currently studying for the Master of Wine.
An ode to Merlot
Your dad’s Cab Franc, and your siblings are big deals
Cab Sauv reigns Left Bank with a look of Blue Steel
From high-altitude Mendoza Malbec has gone viral
But you’re the velvet clad chameleon I want in my Zalto
Precocious daughter of Aries, you ripen hastily with heat
Sugars soar at sun’s beat, your acids in retreat
From Bolgheri to Rutherford, you dance in every street
From Barefoot to Cupcake - you own the supermarket beat
You sold your soul in bag-in-box
Yet blushed not once in shame
“I’m not drinking any f***ing Merlot,” cried a man called Miles
And sales went down the drain
You never demand the spotlight, yet quietly save the day
Binding structure with soft fruit and paving the way
To fill mid palate volume, and gently frame the Franc
Tame tannin and leafy bite of Cabernet Sauvignon
But in a mound of blue clay with crasse-de-fer
Water released drop-by-drop in tender loving care
Your song is soulful, sublime, silk, passion and plum
Ornamental spittoons stay empty as a drum
Plum turns to tobacco, to leather and cacao in time
Tannins melt to suede, acidity hums, as you reach your prime
You prove that silk can age with grace, and softness isn’t weak
You are my secret crush, Merlot, the one I’ll always keep
Image by diane555 via iStock.
