Wine and aphorisms

The Latin phrase “in vino veritas” (in wine there is truth) is attributed to Pliny the Elder, a remarkable Roman author, naturalist and army/navy commander who lived in the 1st century AD, and who died in the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.
 
Let's face it, when one has had a bit to drink (whether wine or any alcoholic beverage), one is less inhibited and more forthcoming than when one is sober. Which is why the ancients always reconsidered any decision made when “in one’s cups” — and, one is told, also re-examined decisions made when sober after imbibing a cup or two, as being drunk prevented the tendency to dissemble!
 
Another famous wine quotation (attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte) is, “In victory you deserve champagne. In defeat you need it.” Napoleon became the Emperor of France in 1804 at the age of 34, and was finally defeated by the British-led allies at Waterloo in 1815 — he must have quaffed a lot of champagne!
 
How about, “Wine is sunlight, held together by water”? attributed to the Italian polymath Galileo (an astronomer, physicist, engineer, philosopher and mathematician) who lived in Pisa in the first half of the 17th century. A most keen insight as wine is 84 per cent to 88 per cent water, 11 per cent to 15 per cent alcohol, and less than 1 per cent of ingredients that contribute to its colour, aroma and taste. And yes, the grapevine requires the sun to grow and the wine grape requires the sun to ripen properly.

The wine is just terrific: lovely aromas of cherries, spice, bread and tar, full-bodied, with smooth tannins and a nice finish

Then there’s “A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.” Attributed to Louis Pasteur, the French biologist who lived in the second half of the 19th century and is credited with discovering the principles of vaccination, fermentation and the process of heating liquids to preserve their quality that became known as “pasteurisation”. Pasteur was part of the attempt to stop the devastation of vineyards in Europe caused by Phylloxera — his work with microbes and bacteria helped other scientists identify the infestation, although ultimately the pest was controlled only by grafting healthy wines onto Phylloxera-resistant rootstock.
 
Ernest Hemingway said, “Wine is the most civilised thing in the world”. Hemingway was an American writer and journalist who did most of his work between the mid-1920s and the mid-1950s (A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Old Man and The Sea) — he got the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. He surely knew what he was talking about.
 
My favourite wine quotation is, “Life is too short to drink bad wine” (anonymous). Absolutely true, and something I like to put into practice. Mind you, that does not necessarily mean drinking only expensive wine — there are many good or even great wines that are not expensive, and some of my best wine experiences have been with the house wines in bistros or enotecas. However, you’d need to be lucky to find a cheap good wine, so it’s always advisable to trade up.
 
Wines I’ve been drinking: The Saint Cosme Little James Basket Press Rouge (NV, Rs 2,170 in Bengaluru) has an engaging label showing Little James making the wine — it’s a 100 per cent Grenache produced by the solera system in the Gigondas region of the Rhone Valley in France.
 
The wine is just terrific: lovely aromas of cherries, spice, bread and tar, full-bodied, with smooth tannins and a nice finish. It helps that the winery (Chateau de Saint Cosme) has been with the same family since the 16th century and that the winemaker-owner, Louis Barruol, is the 14th generation in charge. So, Vive la France!


 Alok Chandra is a Bengaluru-based wine consultant