"Beer is made by man, wine by God." ~ Martin Luther
In my very young days we often drank wine because it was easy to obtain. By easy I mean cheap. It rarely tasted good but we liked the way we felt after a few swigs. However, my very first experience with wine drinking was free. Up the street from the house I grew up in lived a man that had two very large cherry trees in his yard. My Daddy got a huge basket of cherries from a neighbor one year and decided to make some wine out of it. I'm not sure why because he didn't even drink alcohol. This wine was stored in the basement with the rest of our canned goods. I'm sure you've figured out by now how my first wine experience came about. It wasn't a very high alcohol content, but it was definitely fermented.
Over the years I have managed to develop a love and appreciation for wine. I do not necessarily follow the "rules" regarding pairing certain wines with certain foods. I asked a gentleman once what he drank his favorite wine with and he replied, matter of factly, "A glass". I suppose I am the same way; although I've been known to drink it from a Dixie(c) cup or Tupperware(c), or straight from the bottle when necessary.
In 2007 The New York Times published an article: The Brief History of Wine. There is no point in repeating what they said when you can check it out directly, but I will mention the fact that most people probably didn't realize that "Ohio was the first region in America to successfully cultivate grapes for wine". That was in the 19th Century.
6,181,578,000. That's over 6 billion if you want the short version. That's also how many gallons of wine was consumed worldwide in the year 2014, give or take a few hundred. BKWine Magazine will give you more info if you're interested. France and Italy produce most of that and possibly drink most of it as well.
Medical research has proven that wine has preventative health benefits regarding many diseases, including cancer and diabetes, when consumed in recommended amounts. When faced with some of the alternatives I choose wine.
Why do we love wine? I believe the answers are many. Wine is almost as old as time itself. It is symbolic of so many things in life that we want. It gets finer with age, as do we. It's poetic and romantic, as we long to be. It promises good health when not abused. It symbolizes relaxation and quality time spent with family, friends, and significant others. It doesn't have to be chilled; making it easy to transport on those picturesque picnics and hikes. The flavors are always unique to the maker so each new bottle is opened with anticipation; what flavors will we be able to pick out? The list goes on depending on the author, but these are the top reasons I enjoy wine.
I continue to learn more and more about wine as I try new ones. Look for some reviews here as well as more blogs about some of my favorites. Below is a photo of me at The Williamsburg Winery in Virginia participating in a wine tasting. It was a great experience.
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