Litquake arrives in San Francisco on October 9th this year, departing October 17th, so don’t forget to join me for my 6th Annual Flight of Poets on Thursday October 15th!  Featured wineries include Gundlach Bundschu, Hess Collection, Three Wine Co., LaFollette Wines, Tin Bar & Breathless.

To whet your palate,  enjoy this poem by my friend Dean Rader, who is in the Department of English at USF, that was a finalist in the Caldwell Vineyard – Rocket Science Label Contest 2014.

Red is landing and launch,
Orbit and origin, both cork and
Crush. It’s motion, evolution,
Kinesis. It’s fire and flight.
Every color moves, but red
Takes off, it rockets through
Space, through science. Look: the
Capsule is in your hand. Explore.
Imbibe sun and skin, drink the
Earth. You too can discover the
New world; for in this realm, in this
Cosmos, in this universe,
Everything is wine.

And while you are feeling the wine vibe, chew on this little extra from Dean as well!

Take me

over tongue over teeth
over cusp cut and rim
over skin

Peel me
back and push
me down I want
to go deep

below body and bone
beneath darkness and dirt

and there raise
me up to
mouth on mouth
on lip on tip

I want to go deep
I want to be squashed
quashed and quelled

I want to be crushed