in #CASE you were curious about… WINE
February 18th is Drink Wine Day!
Sixteenth Century Protestant Reformer Martin Luther once said: “Beer is made by men, wine by God.” So sit back and enjoy a cool Merlot with some cheese and crackers. It’ll be divine.
People have been producing wine since at least 6000 B.C. There are dozens of ancient legends about humans who accidentally consumed fermented grapes and became intoxicated, which is probably how wine was first conceived. Eventually, people began experimenting with the fermentation process. The methods for making wine spread from the region of Mesopotamia to Egypt, Greece, Rome, France, Spain, and eventually the New World. Today, over 20-million acres of the earth’s surface are dedicated to growing grapes for wine.
And, if you want to impress your friends, don’t forget to make contradictory comments about your wine, like: “It is bold, yet subtle.” Then everybody will really think you know what you’re talking about. Studies have shown that drinking a glass of wine a day improves heart health, reduces forgetfulness, boosts immunity, and increases bone density.
The word “cork-tease” is someone who always talks about the wine he or she has but then never opens it.
In early Rome, women were forbidden from drinking wine, and a husband who found his wife drinking was permitted by law to kill her.
The oldest bottle of wine around today dates back to 325 A.D. It was found inside a sarcophagus. Talk about well-aged wine!
One of the laws in the code of Hammurabi, written in 1800 B.C., says that fraudulent wine sellers should be drowned in a river. Harsh.
In order to preserve wine and improve taste, Romans added lead. In retrospect, this may have been a mistake.
The custom of clinking glasses and saying “Cheers” comes from Ancient Rome. The idea is to make sure you’re drinking buddy isn’t poisoning you by letting a little of your wine spill into his cup.
The Benedictine monk who discovered champagne called out to his fellow monks: “Come quickly, I am drinking the stars!”
Hippocrates, the founder of medicine proscribed wine for almost any illness.
The famous scientist Louis Pasteur said, “Wine is the most healthful and hygienic of beverages.”
Christopher Hitchens, militant atheist and alcohol enthusiast, calls Jesus’ transmutation of water into wine: “The only worthwhile miracle in the New Testament.”