The Poetry of Pinot Noir
Judy O’Kane
Judy’s poetry explores terroir: place as a receptacle of knowledge. Her poetry appears regularly in the World of Fine Wine and she will also read more recent poems from her collection, ‘On Tasting’, a work-in-progress.
Judy’s work speaks to the mysticism of Pinot Noir from the climats and lieux dits of the Côte d’Or to the Pinot diaspora. The work considers terroir and tūrangawaewae, the Māori term closest to the concept. The poetry explores the rites and rituals surrounding Pinot Noir; some of the work is written from the monastery and forest at Cîteaux. The work considers how time can become mythology, mindful that a wine may outlive the author of its tasting note. If geography can be considered a drawing of place, wine poetry might be said to offer a means of writing place, accessed through the sense of taste.
Judy will offer a short introduction introducing key themes in advance of the reading.
Judy O’Kane’s poetry explores Pinot Noir, place and identity. She first encountered the concept of terroir working the harvest on sabbatical from legal practice. Her MA in Poetry from Queen’s University, Belfast, considered the concept of terroir in relation to the work of Seamus Heaney. She holds the WSET Diploma and a PhD in Creative and Critical Writing from the University of East Anglia, a creative non-fiction exploration of terroir. Judy has worked the harvest in Saint-Estèphe and planted and harvested in the UK. Her poetry is published in the World of Fine Wine and in journals in the UK, Europe and New Zealand. She holds the National Memory Day Prize, the Charles Causley Poetry Prize, the Irish Post Prize and the Listowel Writers Week Original Poem Prize.