KOSHU WINE PROJECT

LIFE WITH WINE- Why drink wine?

Taking pride in a life style of pleasure

It goes without saying that the Western lifestyle, especially the Protestant ethic, has portrayed alcohol as a sin. Most of the manifestations of drinks, from cocktails to vodka to cowboy’s whiskey, have been packaged and portrayed as the fastest way to a drugged stupor. Destruction of the family, drug dependence and an early grave were a few of promised outcomes. Nowadays the demon drink has taken on new evils with labeling promising birth defects as well as the likelihood that you will run down the children of innocent people with your car.

However fine wine represents a different school of thought. The social issue is not “to drink or not to drink” but rather the choice between excess and moderation. Clearly the problem is not what so much what people do to others as what they do to themselves.

A bottle of fermented grapes is a quiet choice for a simple natural pleasure that is at the same time an aesthetic endeavor, a shared indulgence akin to watching a play, attending a concert or having a rewarding conversation. In many parts of the world including Italy, France, Spain and Portugal, wine has for centuries been a part of everyday family life and helped to shape their cultural heritage.

Wine is nearly as old as civilization itself and can trace its roots back to the Biblical Age. Today it still represents a way of living that permeates all of a person’s life choices from the style of child-rearing to attitudes in the workplace to leisure pursuits. In other words, the decision to pull the cork of a bottle of good wine over dinner means that you find beauty in the simple pleasure of living.

The choice of the wine or the price has little to do with the outcome. People generally do not enjoy wine that they cannot afford to buy. Paying for it, in other words making a place for wine within the time and financial constraints of your daily life is an essential part of the enjoyment. Likewise, cold or warm, red or white, heavy or light, new or old, a first time wine or an old familiar label is an exercise of taste that makes fun out of choosing. One of the many joys of wine is its uniqueness, and matched with cuisine we can find new experiences not only in a different label, but in a new time, an alternative setting or an unusual ambience.

For many of us eating is a physical activity to ward off hunger, brief and to the point as we spend fifteen minutes devouring a sandwich and chugging a diet drink. Wine makes a meal a historical event, a shared occasion with a memorable partner that we can extend from one to four or even five hours depending on our taste, concentration and interest in the moment. It makes life an experience.

Back to Top ^

• KOSHU WINE PROJECT
• WINE WORLD