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Catawba Wine by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow This song of mine Is a Song of the Vine, To be sung by the glowing embers Of wayside inns, When the rain begins To darken the drear Novembers. It is not a song Of the Scuppernong, From warm Carolinian valleys, Nor the Isabel And the Muscadel That bask in our garden alleys. Nor the red Mustang, Whose clusters hang O'er the waves of the Colorado, And the fiery flood Of whose purple blood Has a dash of Spanish bravado. For richest and best Is the wine of the West, That grows by the Beautiful River; Whose sweet perfume Fills all the room With a benison on the giver. And as hollow trees Are the haunts of bees, For ever going and coming; So this crystal hive Is all alive With a swarming and buzzing and humming. Very good in its way Is the Verzenay, Or the Sillery soft and creamy; But Catawba wine Has a taste more divine, More dulcet, delicious, and dreamy. There grows no vine By the haunted Rhine, By Danube or Guadalquivir, Nor on island or cape, That bears such a grape As grows by the Beautiful River. Drugged is their juice For foreign use, When shipped o'er the reeling Atlantic, To rack our brains With the fever pains, That have driven the Old World frantic. To the sewers and sinks With all such drinks, And after them tumble the mixer; For a poison malign Is such Borgia wine, Or at best but a Devil's Elixir. While pure as a spring Is the wine I sing, And to praise it, one needs but name it; For Catawba wine Has need of no sign, No tavern-bush to proclaim it. And this Song of the Vine, This greeting of mine, The winds and the birds shall deliver To the Queen of the West, In her garlands dressed, On the banks of the Beautiful River. Southwest Ohio used to be big winemaking country, and the principal grape used was the Catawba. from the Catawba wikipedia page: quote:The year 1859 was Catawba's peak in the Ohio wine industry, with the state being the largest producer in the United States, producing more than 568,000 US gallons (2,150 kL) of wine from 2,000 acres (800 ha) acres of mostly Catawba vines. There are still a few vineyards around Cincinnati, the most prominent is probably Valley Vineyards in Morrow. Their wines are sold in Kroger stores, usually from 8 to 14 at Kroger. they sell a larger variety in local wineshops or at the vineyard, but of course the prices are higher there. My favorite of their's is probably the Hillside Red or the Cabernet Sauvignon. I like mostly dry red wines and these fit the bill. VV also makes a honey mead and a port. I like the port as a dessert but I don't like honey so I haven't tried the mead. I'm interested to hear about other wine regions or vineyards that are maybe overlooked nowadays or haven't found a broad audience yet. Anything near you?
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Oct 28, 2011 14:16
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| # ¿ May 3, 2024 21:08 |
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