Quick spin, the cork popping free, and I fill his glass and mine to the brim.
“In other words it’s the sort of wine given to you in times stress or under duress by a bearded Celtic satyr! Ready?
“Ready.”
“First swirl it around to bring up the bouquet, plunge in your nose to breathe the aroma, then a brief sip before swilling it down”.
“…Wow!”
“Jesus!” still smiling and licking my lips. “This stuff is nectar!”
“Didn’t I tell you, Hagar? Here,” Boyne draining his glass in a glup, “Ah, that’s the taste, frisky, coltish – just a hint of nymphomania - O great gulping wine!”
From Irish Wine (first published in 1988 by Mercury Press) in The Irish Wine Trilogy. Dick Wimmer. Soft Skull Press, 2009
