Nothing equals the joy of the drinker except the joy of the wine being drunk. - Anonymous |
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Wine in Our CultureWine and culture seem to go hand in hand. Many books and movies feature wine as key plot elements or scene builders. Learn more about the wines in some classics and pour yourself a glass while you watch or read! The ancient Greeks and Romans used wine as an offering to the gods. In Greek mythology, Dionysus was the god of wine, overseeing all matters pertaining to the cultivation of grapes and wine production. The Romans looked to Bacchus to oversee all wine matters. In medieval times it was believed that if a newly married couple were to drink mead (honey wine) each evening for the duration of one moon following the wedding, they were assured a male heir within one year. And, if that did occur, lavish gifts and accolades were bestowed upon the mead maker (artisans that were highly revered at the time). In other words, the couple drank mead (honey wine) for one month (moon). This is also the original of the word honeymoon. Wine in TV Shows The Sopranos and Wine Wine in Movies An Affair to Remember and Pink Champagne The Big Sleep and Brandy Bond, James Bond Bond, James Bond and Champagne Casablanca and Champagne It's a Wonderful Life: Champagne & Mulled Wine Kelly's Heroes Days of Wine and Roses Wine in Books & PlaysCask of Amontillado The Citadel: Wine in the 1920s The Great Gatsby & Wine Hamlet and a Drunken Danish Court Henry V and St. Crispin's Day Much Ado About Marsala! Romeo, Juliet & Soave: Wine of Poets and Lovers Silence of the Lambs - with Amarone ! Spenser for Hire The Three Musketeers & Anjou Wine Wine PoetryJohn Milton - Sonnet 17Lawrence of virtuous father virtuous son, Now that the fields are dank, and ways are mire, Where shall we sometimes meet, and by the fire Help waste a sullen day; what may be won From the hard season gaining: time will run On smoother till Favonius reinspire The frozen earth; and clothe in fresh attire The lily and rose, that neither sowed nor spun. What neat repast shall feast us, light and choice, Of Attic taste, with wine, whence we may rise To hear the lute well touched, or artful voice Warble immortal notes and tuskan air? He who of those delights can judge, and spare To interpose them oft, is not unwise. Ernest Dowson- CynaraLast night, ah, yesternight, betwixt her lips and mine There fell thy shadow, Cynara! thy breath was shed Upon my soul between the kisses and the wine; And I was desolate and sick of an old passion, Yea, I was desolate and bowed my head: I have been faithful to thee, Cynara! in my fashion.
All night upon mine heart I felt her warm heart beat, Night-long within mine arms in love and sleep she lay; Surely the kisses of her bought red mouth were sweet; But I was desolate and sick of an old passion, When I awoke and found the dawn was gray: I have been faithful to thee, Cynara! in my fashion.
I have forgot much, Cynara! gone with the wind, Flung roses, roses riotously with the throng, Dancing, to put thy pale, lost lilies out of mind; But I was desolate and sick of an old passion, Yea, all the time, because the dance was long: I have been faithful to thee, Cynara! in my fashion.
I cried for madder music and for stronger wine, But when the feast is finished and the lamps expire, Then falls thy shadow, Cynara! the night is thine; And I am desolate and sick of an old passion, Yea, hungry for the lips of my desire: I have been faithful to thee, Cynara! in my fashion.
Ode to Catawba WineBy Henry Wadsworth LongfellowThis song of mine Is a song of the Vine To be sung by the glowing embers Of wayside inns, When the rain begins To darken the drear Novembers.
It is not a song Of the Scuppernong, From warm Carolinian valleys, Nor the Isabel And the Muscadel That bask in our garden alleys.
Nor the red Mustang, Whose clusters hang O'er the waves of the Colorado, And the fiery flood Of whose purple blood Has a dash of Spanish bravado.
For the richest and best Is the wine of the West,* That grows by the Beautiful River, ** Whose sweet perfume Fills all the room With a benison on the giver.
And as hollow trees Are the haunts of bees, Forever going and coming; So this crystal hive Is all alive With a swarming and buzzing and humming.
Very good in its way Is the Verzenay, Or the Sillery soft and creamy; But Catawba wine has a taste more divine, More dulcet, delicious and dreamy.
There grows no vine By the haunted Rhine, By Danube or Quadalquivir, Nor on island or cape, That bears such a grape As grows by the Beautiful River.
Drugged is their juice For foreign use, When shipped o'er the reeling Atlantic, To rack our brains With the fever pains, That have driven the Old World Frantic.
To the sewers and sinks With all such drinks, And after them tumble the mixer, For a poison malign Is such Borgia wine, Or at best but a Devil's elixir.
While pure as a spring Is the wine I sing, And to praise it, one needs but name it; For Catawba wine Has need of no sign, No tavern-bush to proclaim it.
And this Song of the Vine, This greeting of mine, The winds and the birds shall deliver To the Queen of the West, In her garlands dressed, On the banks of the Beautiful River.
*At the time this poem was written, Ohio was "the West." **The word "Ohio" means "Beautiful River" in the language of the Indians who lived along it.
W.B. Yeats - A Drinking SongWine comes in at the mouth And love comes in at the eye; That's all we shall know for truth Before we grow old and die. I lift the glass to my mouth, I look at you, and I sigh.
Two Glasses of Wine and a Mayonnaise JarA philosophy professor had a lesson for his class one day. He brought in a large, empty mayonnaise jar. Setting it on a table at the front of the class, he proceeded to fill it with golf balls. "Class," he said, "Is the jar full?" "Yes," his students answered. Then the professor took some pebbles, poured them into the jar of golf balls and shook it until the pebbled filled in the spaces. "Now is the jar full?" he asked the class. "Yes," they replied. Next the professor took some sand and poured it into the jar. It filled in all around the golf balls and pebbles. Again, he asked, "Is it full, now?" "Yes," was the answer. Finally, the professor took two glasses of wine from under the table and poured them into the jar, filling in all the air space which was left. "Now it's full," he said. He went on to explain that the jar illustrated their life. "The golf balls are the important things like your family, children, friends, health, life interests. Things that make life worth living. If everything else were taken away and only those things remained, your life would still be full." "The pebbles represent other necessary things like your job, car, house, etc. And the sand is everything else. Note that if you fill the jar with sand or pebbles first, there would be no room for the golf balls. The same is true for your life. If you use all your time and money on the unimportant or necessary things first, there will be no room for the important things." "So take time for the important things. Go to dinner or a long walk with your spouse. Play with your children. Take care of your health. Play golf with your friends. Take one more run down the ski slope. Keep your priorities straight. The rest is just sand." "Professor," asked one of the students, "what does the wine represent?" "I'm glad you asked," he said. "As you can see, no matter how full your life is, there is always room for a glass of wine with a friend." |
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