Pinot Noir Doesn’t Go Far

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost – The Road Not Taken

I studied this poem at A-level and interestingly we all found it rather gloomy, much like a lot of Robert Frost’s poetry. Yet, after a little research you will find out that Frost wrote this poem with witty intentions for his friend Edward Thomas, who supposedly could never decide which way to go while the pair were out walking. It seems Edward, like us, didn’t understand the joke either and shortly after receiving this poem, enlisted in the army and was killed in France two months later. Coincidence or not, you decide.

Decisions are tricky, and this poem will either leave you thinking ‘Yes, I have taken the right road,’ or if you’re at a time in your life where things seem to be filled with uncertainty, much like I was while doing my A-levels, it will probably leave you quite depressed.

Recently, I’ve come to the conclusion that life is too short to muddle oneself with whether you’ve taken the right path. Enjoy the path you’re on, take everything in, look up at the stars at night and do what you enjoy, not what you think you should do. There’s nothing I love more than rambling around the countryside on my horse, with the dogs or in peaceful solitude, so when I get the occasional moment of ‘I ought to move to London and socialize and professionalize my life’, I just have to remind myself, that’s not me. No matter what decisions you make, you’ll always consider whether the grass could have been greener, it’s just part of life. And as a wise person somewhere once said:

“The grass isn’t always greener the other side of the fence, it’s greener where you water it.”

On that note, I watered myself with a lovely bottle of wine from Berry Bros. & Rudd last night, so here’s a little review:

2013 Bourgogne Rouge, Pinot Noir, Maison Dieu, Domaine de Bellene

I had a lovely in-in night last night with the fire lit, a cosy border terrier, a stretched out sausage dog and Peaky Blinders. This bottle looked like it needed opening, so after trotting down to the cellar and rescuing it, I got tucked in.

This Burgundy shocked me slightly at the translucency of the wine. Perhaps I’ve had too many deep dark reds lately but this was really quite pale ruby. So it’s quite surprising that it’s a Pinot Noir explosion of fruitiness upon first sip. It’s a lovely red for it’s delicacy, and it almost feels healthy for how light it is, does that make sense? Perfect for a school night in front of the fire, refreshing and very pleasant indeed.