2004 Taittinger Comtes De Champagne Rosé

Shine, Perishing Republic

While this America settles in the mould of its vulgarity, heavily thickening to empire
And protest, only a bubble in the molten mass, pops and sighs out, and the mass hardens,
I sadly smiling remember that the flower fades to make fruit, the fruit rots to make earth.
Out of the mother; and through the spring exultances, ripeness and decadence, and home to the mother.
You making haste haste on decay: not blameworthy; life is good, be it stubbornly long or suddenly
A mortal splendor: meteors are not needed less than mountains: shine, perishing republic.
But for my children, I would have them keep their distance from the thickening center; corruption
Never has been compulsory, when the cities lie at the monster’s feet there are left the mountains.
And boys, be in nothing so moderate as in love of man, a clever servant, insufferable master.
There is the trap that catches noblest spirits, that caught—they say– God, when he walked on earth.

- Robinson Jeffers

Robinson Jeffers was born January 10, 1887, in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. In 1887, Grover Cleveland was serving the first of his two, non-consecutive terms as president. On February 2, the residents of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, made their first annual observance of Groundhog Day. On November 13, pro-Irish protestors and the Metropolitan Police clashed in London, on what came to be known as Bloody Sunday. And, on Christmas Day, 1887, the first drops of Glenfiddich single malt Scotch whiskey ran from the stills in Dufftown, Scotland.

Robinson Jeffers’ father was Dr. William Hamilton Jeffers, a Presbyterian minister and professor of Hebrew, Greek, and Latin at the Western Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh. Jeffers’ mother was Anne Tuttle Jeffers, a descendant of Elizabeth and William Tuttle, who came to America from England in 1635 on the ship Planter.

By the age of twelve, Robinson Jeffers was fluent in English, French, and German, and could read the classics in their original Greek or Latin. At the age of eighteen, Jeffers earned a bachelor’s degree in literature from Occidental College. After graduation, he enrolled at the University of Southern California to study medicine. In 1906, at USC, Jeffers fell in love with Una Call Kuster, a fellow graduate student and the wife of Edward Kuster, a prominent Los Angeles attorney. In 1910, Edward Kuster discovered the affair. In 1912, Una and Edward Kuster divorced. In 1913, Una and Robinson Jeffers married and moved to Carmel. In 1913, they had a daughter who died in infancy. Their twin sons, Donan and Garth, were born in 1916.

In Carmel, Jeffers learned stonemasonry from Michael Murphy, a local builder. During the 1920s, Jeffers and Murphy constructed Tor House, the stone building on Carmel Point that became the Jeffers’ residence. Jeffers wrote in the mornings and built stone walls during the afternoons. In 1925, the year Jeffers wrote Shine, Perishing Republic, Donan and Garth were nine years old.

Shine, Perishing Republic is one of Jeffers’ shorter poems. Its characterization of the United States as a republic at the brink of empire echoes the American Abolitionist Wendell Phillips’ adage: “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” During the 1960s, Shine, Perishing Republic became popular with the anti-Vietnam War movement. Today, with an aspiring dictator in the Oval Office, “heavily thickening to empire” takes on a whole new meaning.

Which brings us to the 2004 Taittinger Comtes De Champagne Rosé. In the glass, the 2004 is a bright, frosted crimson. The bouquet combines aristocracy with raw talent. On the palate, the marriage of thirty percent Chardonnay and seventy percent Pinot Noir is both a comfort and a thrill. If you’re anxious, this Taittinger will calm your nerves. If you’re complacent, it will shatter your composure. The finish has its lasting effects—like all legends, its generosity is deliberate—but it does end before you have time to fully appreciate it.

In a free country, the people are sovereign. That’s the good news. The bad news is, in a free country, the people have the right to elect a tyrant. In times like these, it makes sense to celebrate what it means—or meant—to be free.

One Bottle is dedicated to the appreciation of good wines and good times, one bottle at a time. You can write to Joshua Baer at jb@onebottle.com.