Eiswein

 

{In this poem I play with the contrast between two types of wine I was introduced to, while traveling in Germany and Austria.  Heurige (from heute, meaning “today,) is a wine that is made as soon as the first grapes are ready.  Eiswein (Ice Wine) is made of the grapes that have been left on the vines until first frost, allowing them to mature and sweeten considerably.  Hope you enjoy the poem. Thanks for stopping by to read!}

 

It’s the end of the season.

We’re heading towards Fall,

When the last of the show-stopping

Blooms stops us all;

 

And the last of the clusters

Still cling to the vine,

And we know, that the Autumn

Brings harvest, and wine;

 

And we sip the first vintage,

The sour, the new,

And can’t wait for those wrinkly

Old raisins, in cue;

 

So we toast with the Heurige,

Toast to today.

So much cheaper.  And Eiswein’s

Much longer away.

 

But suppose, we chose

Quality once, over plenty.

Instead of the new wine,

In cases of twenty,

 

One drop of elixir—

A lifetime, distilled—

Would suffice, from the grapes

On the bare, frigid hill.

 

Copyright 2019 Andrea LeDew