Old bottle, drunk fall in, nice bouquet

You read haiku?  Not many do.  The best ones have the punch of ju jitsu, the delicacy of a snowflake landing our faces.  But for most readers--the experience is too much like looking in the window of a restaurant, thinking of going in...but skipping the meal. 

So why does wine figure prominently in the work of so many of the best makers of haiku?  It is an outright theme in some cases...the poet staggering home after wine with friends comes upon a tableau near a country lane.   Or the rice wine loosens his tongue and he admit some human frailty. I can't be sure...not being a drinker of Sake, but I suspect most of the power lies in the wine, not the lines.
Poking around the Internet for a blog that explores the connections between poetry and wine, I found RED WINE HAIKU Review where the blogger (Lane Steinberg) sums up some recent tastings in the classical form of a  3-line Japanese poem:

Here's a random sample of some recent brief assessments:

 

489) Roxyann Syrah 2008 (Oregon)

    Baby butt softness

    And a milk chocolate finish

    Hide from the children!

 

488) Roxyann Merlot 2007 (Oregon)

     When expectations

     Are effortlessly eclipsed

     One's left satisfied

 

486) Cannonball Cabernet 2008 (California)

     Starts off promising

     An impressive half gainer

     Then a belly flop

 

481) Castlebank Zinfandel 2009 (California)

    Frivolous and cold

    Which by no means should suggest
    It's without its char

To see more of Mr. Steinberg, visit his blog at
http://redwinehaiku.blogspot.com/