Carol Ann Duffy

It's old news now, but chosen as Poet Laureate in 2009, Carol's payment was, as tradition dictates, a butt of Sherry. She chose to receive it in the form of bottles of Manzanilla and Fino (from Lustau). Here is a picture of her signing a butt in Jerez:

And here is her poem about Jerez:

At Jerez 

Who wouldn't feel favoured, 
at the end of a week's labour, 
to receive as part-wages 
a pale wine 
that puts the mouth in mind of the sea ... 

and not gladly be kissed 
by gentle William Shakespeare's lips, 
the dark, raisiny taste of his song; 
bequeathed to his thousand daughters and sons, 
the stolen wines of the Spanish sun... 

or walk the cool bodegas' aisles - 
where flor and oxygen 
grow talented in fragrances and flavours ­ 
to sniff, sip, spit, swallow, savour... 

Carol Ann Duffy 

She has donated a few bottles to charity for fundraising purposes, for example to a school and to a university. Her bottles have a special label with her poem on the back label. This one was auctioned  for charity.