Lines to Love: Whiskers' Wine Tasting

The other week I wrote a post on a sampling of French cheeses. In the course of getting my fromagian ducks in a row, I found myself reading up on the recommended pairings of wines with the different cheeses. And while I wouldn’t call myself an oenophile, I do enjoy a well apportioned glass of red, occasionally white.

The sheer enormity of the topic of wine makes any attempt to even tackle it daunting. And the vagaries of developing a sophisticated wine palate, quite honestly, feel beyond me. My husband and I have friends who are consummate oenophiles with a converted basement into a bonafide wine cellar. Suffice it to say that we always enjoy whatever wines they chose to serve with our meal, but when it comes to an actual tasting, neither my husband nor I manage much beyond very basic flavors such as fruity, woody, sweet, or dry, while they are adroit at detecting the most subtle of flavors from bacon fat to rubber tires to petroleum notes. 

Having shared my oeno-deficiency, I really wanted to pair my Musèe du fromage française post with a wine post. It felt apropos. So, I’ve defaulted to an area where I do excel- finding pithy, silly, insightful, and delightful lines about wine. Be they poems, musings, or witty quips, I offer you this thoroughly Whisker’s wine tasting. (You can also check out this Lines to Love post Lines to Love: Pop the Cork, which is all about champagne.)

So, like the Lord of the Court Guildford welcomed Henry VIII’s guests in Shakespeare’s play (Henry VII, Act 1, Sc iv):

“Good company, good wine, good welcome can make good people.”

And, so I bid you welcome, dear readers. Now on to the fun:

John Keats lived so very shortly upon this earth, and yet in the 25 years he did, he gifted mankind with truly beautiful musings from his heart. When such wonderment is distilled into A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever, one asks oneself, from whence does such eternal truth derive. I think it comes from an atmosphere described in his own words:

Poets truly have much to say on this subject. One is the Persian poet Omar Khayyám, perhaps most well known for his poem The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. And while I highly recommend reading that poetic staple, it is this simple thought on wine that has remained with me since I first read it (which was so long ago I can’t actually recall where it was precisely that I did read it). 

I appreciate his beseeching us to be present in the moment. It is a worthy goal no matter what libation fills your glass, but it seems ever the more true when wine fills one’s goblet. 

And while wine may indeed inspire poetry and the writing thereof, I find the words of Robert Louis Stevenson, a minor poet and spectacular writer of prose, to capture an elemental essence of what wine is:

But enough with the poetic approach, you may say. Surely it’s not all poetry! Quite right, dear reader. For the philosophers of old had some very insightful things to say upon this subject, too. 

Although I’m sure true students of philosophy would scold me for such an assertion, I do believe that Plato is one of philosophy’s  cornerstones. Period. Every Philosophy 101 class in college starts with him- or so it seems. So it stands to reason that when Plato says something, we pay attention. 

Truth in wine and children. My brother has said this to me many times. And I’m sure we’ve all been in that uncomfortable or hilarious place when wine has loosened someone’s tongue too much. If you need further confirmation as to the veracity of the above statement, I offer you a truly epic source: The Odyssey. 

It seems only right that wine has a philosophical bent, don’t you think? However, so often juxtaposed with philosophy is science. So, what do the scientists have to say about wine? 

I appreciate this observation. Like a true scientist, Galileo considers the elements necessary for the production of wine, sunlight and water. Yet, rather than dissect the chemical properties that occur during the growing, harvesting, crushing, fermenting, and aging of wine, this imminent scientist defaults to a summation that seems somewhat poetic.   

Poets, philosophers, and scientists aside, there are a plethora of pithy points made about wine. Here is one I like in particular from an actor who played Hercule Poirot perfectly (see the Hercule Poirot post here).

Speaking of Germans… when one thinks of the Reformation, I’m quite sure wine is not a subject at the top of their list. However, rather than bow to the cursory and repressive representation the Protestant Reformation has received in our history texts, I offer this observation made by one of its seminal leaders.

Now, one could argue that this quote invites us to go into a deeper spiritual understanding of the sacrament of Communion, perhaps dissecting the profound and mysterious understanding of the blood of Christ and it’s import, but I believe Martin Luther’s remarks should be taken at face value. 

And speaking of Jesus and wine, when writing to his friend  the French economist and one of the last Enlightenment philosophers André Morellet, Benjamin Franklin made this observation (which has since been misquoted):

Like with Galileo, Ben Franklin is drawn to seeing a divine nature in the growing and making of wine. 

And speaking of wanting to be happy, I think this quote from Tyrion Lannister falls right in line. 

Let us not forget that Tyrion is a profound thinker. He possesses quite a lot of knowledge for one so young. And, he also has drunk his fair share of wine, too. And considering he has lived through some of the worst things that life has to offer, I take his word when he touts wine as a panacea. 

Here’s a quote that could easily be attributed to Tyrion, maybe his brother Jamie, assuredly his father, Tywin. However, it’s author is none of these men. It’s the Persian poet, philosopher, scholar, and writer Rumi. 

That seems like the perfect line to leave you with, but I will offer one more. This one is allegorical, though the principles in discerning a fine wine are essential to taking Rumi’s advice to heart. 

This is indeed good advice on how to approach life as well as the selection of wine. I hope you enjoyed this little aside. Any suggestions on the next bottle I should buy?

Post Script

If all this talk of wine, as well as the pictures in this post, have gotten you inspired for a wine tour, you’re in luck. Various wineries around the world have implemented a digital wine tour of their wineries. Five Virtual Wine Tours to Take from Your Sofa is a great article with some wine history and links to different wineries you can sample from the comfort of home.