Is This Bottle Corked? Part 6

BOTH AT HOME and in restaurants, it is often only two people who share a bottle of wine. Now that so much wine has such high levels of alcohol (over 14 percent alcohol is very common for reds), two people sharing a standard bottle (750 ml in volume) could feel unpleasantly inebriated, as well as feeling guilty at exceeding the daily alcohol consumption recommended by doctors. An up-market British supermarket chain has launched a range of 500 ml bottles so that their customers (the middle-cla.s.s ones about whose drinking habits the British government is becoming concerned) are neither tempted to overindulge nor annoyed by the waste when they don't finish the bottle. and in restaurants, it is often only two people who share a bottle of wine. Now that so much wine has such high levels of alcohol (over 14 percent alcohol is very common for reds), two people sharing a standard bottle (750 ml in volume) could feel unpleasantly inebriated, as well as feeling guilty at exceeding the daily alcohol consumption recommended by doctors. An up-market British supermarket chain has launched a range of 500 ml bottles so that their customers (the middle-cla.s.s ones about whose drinking habits the British government is becoming concerned) are neither tempted to overindulge nor annoyed by the waste when they don't finish the bottle.

But if one does start with a standard 750 ml bottle and has wine left over, what should one do with it? The problem is that if you leave, say, 250 ml of wine in a 750 ml bottle, even if recorked or with the screw cap put back on, the oxygen in the air above the wine will still attack the alcohol quite rapidly and form acetic acid (the main const.i.tuent of vinegar after water) and ethyl acetate. The wine will not be terribly nice to drink.

The cla.s.sic answer is to use the leftover wine for making a sauce in cooking the next day. A red wine sauce for two boneless steaks might be made as follows. Put olive oil in the frying pan, cook chopped shallots in it till yellow, pour out the contents of the pan into a bowl through a metal strainer, put aside the strainer with the filtered-off shallot, and return the olive oil in the bowl to the pan. Now put in the steaks, which you have already seasoned on both sides with salt and pepper. Fry for five minutes on either side (for a one-inch steak). While you are doing this, boil the 250 ml of leftover red wine in a small pot until the alcohol has boiled off (as judged by pa.s.sing a flame over the pot)-the particularly nasty ethyl acetate has a lower boiling point than alcohol and will have boiled off as well. Put the cooked steaks on plates preheated in a 200F oven and gently pour away the olive oil. Add the still-hot wine to the pan and also the shallot from the strainer. Resume heating the pan and sc.r.a.pe off any meat residues from the pan with a wooden spoon. Reduce the volume and add b.u.t.ter according to taste. Take the plates with the steaks out of the oven and divide the red wine/shallot/b.u.t.ter sauce over them. Serve with vegetables and a freshly opened bottle of red wine. oven and gently pour away the olive oil. Add the still-hot wine to the pan and also the shallot from the strainer. Resume heating the pan and sc.r.a.pe off any meat residues from the pan with a wooden spoon. Reduce the volume and add b.u.t.ter according to taste. Take the plates with the steaks out of the oven and divide the red wine/shallot/b.u.t.ter sauce over them. Serve with vegetables and a freshly opened bottle of red wine.

But if the wine one has not consumed is really good, it would be a terrible waste not to keep it drinkable for the next day. The chemistry is simple in principle: it will go off more slowly the less "head s.p.a.ce" there is above the wine; it will go bad more slowly the lower the temperature at which it is stored overnight; and it will go off more slowly if the head s.p.a.ce is not air at normal pressure but a blanketing inert gas or a partial vacuum provided by the air-pumping-out devices one can buy in the shops. You will preserve your wine reasonably well if you keep around some third (250 ml), half (375 ml), and two-thirds (500 ml) bottles, put your undrunk wine in the appropriately sized bottle, pump out the head s.p.a.ce, and keep the wine in the refrigerator overnight. You just need to remember to take it out of the refrigerator long enough before you drink it to get it up to the right temperature.

On the other hand, champagne and other sparkling wines keep very easily. Just put the bottle back in the refrigerator without bothering to stopper it. The slow evolution of carbon dioxide bubbles will keep the air away for a long time before the wine goes flat.

Ceremonial: should you turn your back on the loving cup?

SPARE A THOUGHT for King Edward the Martyr, slain in 978 at Corfe Castle in Dorset-some say by his own mother, Aelfryth-while raising his hands to drink. The drinking horns were heavy and took both hands to raise; the body was thus exposed and vulnerable to a knife blow. for King Edward the Martyr, slain in 978 at Corfe Castle in Dorset-some say by his own mother, Aelfryth-while raising his hands to drink. The drinking horns were heavy and took both hands to raise; the body was thus exposed and vulnerable to a knife blow.

And so (it is said) began the custom of the loving cup, still practiced by livery companies, the Inns of Court, many Oxford and Cambridge colleges, and similar inst.i.tutions. Inexplicable unless you know a little of its underlying purpose, the loving-cup ceremonial becomes clear if you think of Edward.

The two-handled cup, usually of silver or silver gilt, is filled with wine or a spiced wine often referred to as "sack" (for a different interpretation) and pa.s.sed around the tables. Each person on receiving the cup bows to the one who handed it to him, on the right, and to their neighbor on the left. The one on the right remains standing; the one on the left rises and holds the cup cover in his right, or dagger, hand. Thus while the drinker is taking his wine, he is protected on the right, and watching the potential a.s.sailant on his left, who in any case is disarmed by the cover.

It sounds more complex than it is, but although it may now seem otiose, like all ceremonial it exists in commemoration of something that once was real. And like all ceremonial, too, there are constant arguments about whether the protector should stand facing away from the drinker or, literally, watch his back.

We would probably take the latter position, since it's the one adopted by the Worshipful Company of Armourers and Brasiers, who should really know all about such things if anyone does.

Wine, women, and what was the other one?

THERE IS A venerable rhetorical figure called the venerable rhetorical figure called the hendiatris hendiatris, consisting of three words joined together to express one idea. "Lock, stock and barrel" comes to mind, as do "s.e.x, drugs and rock 'n' roll," "liberty, equality, and fraternity," and, indeed, "blood, sweat and tears."

But there can be few more appealing than "wine, women, and song." The three stand or fall together as an image of the good earthly life-at least, the good earthly life if you happen to like all three.

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Wine and women? A house of ill fame, perhaps. Wine and song? A drunken knees-up. Women and song? A gospel choir. But all three together: ah, there's lovely, as they say in Wales.

But who first said it? The usual answer is also the strangest. The couplet is generally given in German, as in the epigraph of John Addington Symonds's book of medieval German student songs, published in 1884: Wer liebt nicht Weib Wein und Gesangb Der bleibt ein Narr sein Lebenslang.

Literally, "Who loves not wine women and song / Remains a fool his whole life long."

And to whom does Symonds, without doubt or hesitation, attribute the couplet? Why, none other than Martin Luther, the great reformer and founder of the Lutheran Church.

It seems somehow improbable, and there are cracks around the attribution into which refreshing incredulity can creep. For a start, the phrase has equivalents in many languages and cultures: "Sur, sura, sundari" in Sanskrit; "Piker, vin, og sang" in Norwegian; in Polish "Wino, kobiety, i spiew;" in Swedish "Vin, kvinnor, och sng;" and in Czech, "Vino, ueny a zpev." It is hard to believe they all nicked the phrase from Luther, particularly the speakers of Sanskrit.

Yet Luther was no teetotaler, and the services of the church that bore his name produced some of the greatest and most joyful music of all time, including the ma.s.ses of Michael Praetorius and the music of J. S. Bach. Nor was he a celibate; indeed, he condemned celibacy, and wrote to a friend: I shall never take a wife, as I feel at present. Not that I am insensible to my flesh or s.e.x (for I am neither wood nor stone); but my mind is averse to wedlock because I daily expect the death of a heretic.

The heretic was, of course, himself. And in due course, he wrote, "suddenly, and while I was occupied with far different thoughts the Lord has plunged me into marriage." He was forty-two and his new wife, Katharina-a former nun whom he had arranged to smuggle out of the convent in a herring barrel-was twenty-six; by all accounts, theirs was a thoroughly happy marriage.

So it could could have been that Luther, knowing the triad already, merely turned it into a catchy verse. The great travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor, in have been that Luther, knowing the triad already, merely turned it into a catchy verse. The great travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor, in A Time of Gifts A Time of Gifts (which describes his walk from London to Constantinople in the 1930s), first enters Germany at a town called Goch, where, in an inn named At the Sign of the Black Eagle, he sees the verse painted "right across the walls" in "bold Gothic black-letter script." Yet he sees it again, in the second of his trilogy, (which describes his walk from London to Constantinople in the 1930s), first enters Germany at a town called Goch, where, in an inn named At the Sign of the Black Eagle, he sees the verse painted "right across the walls" in "bold Gothic black-letter script." Yet he sees it again, in the second of his trilogy, Between the Woods and the Water Between the Woods and the Water, this time in Romania. He remarks on this to the landlord, saying he'd seen it before in Goch; the landlord laughed and asked me if I knew who the poet was. "No? It was Martin Luther." I was rather surprised. Unlike the Lutheran Saxons, the Swabians were all Catholics.

It's possible, then, that the attribution was some sort of slur against Luther. Possible, too, is that the rhyme was simply around, in the air, and Luther seemed a good person to attribute it to, just as it is as impossible to remove the quote "All that is necessary for evil to triumph is that the good do nothing" from its attribution to Edmund Burke as it is to find out where he said it.

The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Oxford Dictionary of Quotations gives the attribution to Luther but acknowledges that there is "no proof of authorship." Its transatlantic rival, gives the attribution to Luther but acknowledges that there is "no proof of authorship." Its transatlantic rival, Bartlett's Familiar Quotations Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, offers the German poet Johann Heinrich Voss (17511826) as the most likely candidate. But in truth, it remains a mystery. Enough to say that we should all applaud the sentiment and raise a gla.s.s to the author-whoever he was.

What links wine and olives?

SOME DECADES AGO, an Oxford University history examination paper asked, "Liberty never flourishes where the orange tree grows. Discuss." The Mediterranean is where the orange, the olive, and the vine all flourish, and, at the time, Spain, Portugal, and Greece were all dictatorships. The Fascist dictatorship in Italy was a relatively recent memory. (Fortunately, the question seemed to ignore California and Florida.) an Oxford University history examination paper asked, "Liberty never flourishes where the orange tree grows. Discuss." The Mediterranean is where the orange, the olive, and the vine all flourish, and, at the time, Spain, Portugal, and Greece were all dictatorships. The Fascist dictatorship in Italy was a relatively recent memory. (Fortunately, the question seemed to ignore California and Florida.) But to the visitor to these countries, there is a magical relationship between the citrus fruits, the deep green olive trees, the wine, Homer's "wine-dark sea," and the smell in the Greek forests of the resin that flavors the national wine, retsina. The longevity of Mediterranean peoples is often attributed to their consumption of olive oil, red wine, and fish. Olive oil, like wine, is obtained by the pressing of a fruit, and like wine it comes in many grades and at many prices. It differs in not being fermented. In earlier times, olive oil and wine, being easily kept over the winter, provided people with a source of calories when other sources were relatively scarce.

The Romans used to float olive oil on top of wine as a way of preserving it. The olive oil would have slowed down the rate at which oxygen in the air attacked the wine. Indeed, the olive oil is evident in the oldest (fourth-century) gla.s.s wine bottle to have survived, now on display in Speyer, Germany. After a domestic experiment, we are pleased to confirm that it works.

How did wine affect American civil rights across 2,250 years?

WINE CAN HAVE a long reach-in this case, well over two thousand years. In 1917, the case of a long reach-in this case, well over two thousand years. In 1917, the case of Buchanan v. Warley Buchanan v. Warley reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled unanimously that a Louisville, Kentucky, ordinance demanding racial segregation was un -const.i.tutional. Specifically, it was in breach of the Fourteenth Amendment, which required states to provide equal protection to all people-not just citizens-under their jurisdiction; in this case, the issue was the protection of the right to own and to dispose of property. It was one of the many landmark cases in the last century's dismantling of embedded racism, and the first to declare that this kind of ordinance was in breach of the const.i.tution. reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled unanimously that a Louisville, Kentucky, ordinance demanding racial segregation was un -const.i.tutional. Specifically, it was in breach of the Fourteenth Amendment, which required states to provide equal protection to all people-not just citizens-under their jurisdiction; in this case, the issue was the protection of the right to own and to dispose of property. It was one of the many landmark cases in the last century's dismantling of embedded racism, and the first to declare that this kind of ordinance was in breach of the const.i.tution.

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Commentators on the case have recalled the words of Judge David Brewer. Writing in 1893, twenty-five years after the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified, Brewer argued that const.i.tutions represent the deliberate judgment of the people as to the provisions and restraints which, firmly and fully enforced, will secure to each citizen the greatest liberty and utmost protection. They are rules proscribed [sic] by Philip sober to control Philip drunk.

But who was Philip, and why drunk, and why sober?

The Philip in question was King Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great. Philip, who reigned from 356 to 336 BC BC, was the final judge of appeal in Macedonia. He also acquired a fine military education while held hostage in Thebes as a child, and whether he learned it there or of his own accord, he was notoriously fond of wine. The story goes that one old woman appealed to him against a court judgment. Slurring somewhat, he rejected her appeal, at which point she shouted, "I appeal."

The king, slightly bemused, inquired precisely whom she was appealing to.

"I appeal," she replied, "from Philip drunk to Philip sober."

The king agreed to reconsider her appeal at a later date, and her words pa.s.sed into history.

But not everywhere. It is, for example, technically impossible for a British member of Parliament to be drunk in the debating chamber since 1945, when the cry of "Not sober!" was banned. Not that it affected Alan Clark, the notable wine bibber and serial adulterer who was told off by Clare Short, MP, for speaking in the chamber "in this condition." Clark's diaries reveal precisely what condition he was in and how he got there: "A Palmer '61, then a '75 for comparison, before switching back to '61, a delicious Pichon Longueville."

Philip drunk would have approved. Philip sober, however ...

Should wine be decanted?

IS DECANTING WINE a necessity, a ritual, or one-upmanship? Are you decanting to improve or to impress? Some wines, especially vintage port, have a lot of deposit. Serving guests directly from the bottle is unsatisfactory, because the wine inevitably gets agitated as it is taken around the table, with the result that the guests get altogether too much deposit in their gla.s.ses. The traditional solution to the problem is decanting. First of all, the bottle is stood up for some hours-ideally, at least twenty-four-to enable the sediment to drop gently to the bottom of the bottle; then a steady hand pours the wine gently but in a single go into another vessel (a fine antique decanter or a simple jug function equally well). A light beneath the neck-traditionally a candle-shows when the deposit is about to pa.s.s over from the bottle, and the decanting is stopped. (This raises the question of what to do with what is left in the bottle. Pa.s.sing it through a filter paper such as is used for coffee making seems to be fine, although it is preferable to use the unbleached brown-colored ones.) a necessity, a ritual, or one-upmanship? Are you decanting to improve or to impress? Some wines, especially vintage port, have a lot of deposit. Serving guests directly from the bottle is unsatisfactory, because the wine inevitably gets agitated as it is taken around the table, with the result that the guests get altogether too much deposit in their gla.s.ses. The traditional solution to the problem is decanting. First of all, the bottle is stood up for some hours-ideally, at least twenty-four-to enable the sediment to drop gently to the bottom of the bottle; then a steady hand pours the wine gently but in a single go into another vessel (a fine antique decanter or a simple jug function equally well). A light beneath the neck-traditionally a candle-shows when the deposit is about to pa.s.s over from the bottle, and the decanting is stopped. (This raises the question of what to do with what is left in the bottle. Pa.s.sing it through a filter paper such as is used for coffee making seems to be fine, although it is preferable to use the unbleached brown-colored ones.) So far, so uncontentious. The controversial question is whether decanting benefits those wines that lack a significant deposit. Decanting wine aerates it in the pouring and then leaves a large surface area of it exposed to the air. The longer the wine is subsequently left in the decanter before drinking, the more it will be exposed to the oxygen in the air-but will this be for good or ill? It is indisputable that the oxygen in the air attacks the alcohol in the wine from the moment the bottle is opened-this is why one pumps the air out of partly consumed bottles of wine so as to try to preserve them for pleasurable drinking the following day. Therefore, argued the renowned professor emile Peynaud of the Inst.i.tut d'Oenologie at the University of Bordeaux, the aeration of a sound wine through decanting is indefensible. (He acknowledged that some faulty, nasty-tasting wines might improve with aeration.) The majority in the Bordeaux wine trade do not agree with their late local expert-decanting of wine before drinking is generally favored, even for up to four hours. Hugh Johnson recommends aeration of almost all red wines and the majority of whites. David Bird, though like Peynaud a scientist, sides with Johnson, at least for younger wines.

A recent blind tasting comparing decanted and undecanted fine Bordeaux wines did not resolve the dispute. It suggested that while some are improved by seventy-five minutes in the decanter, others are made worse, but that only trial and error could determine which way a particular wine inclined. This scarcely amounts to useful guidance: after decanting, it's too late.

But why would anyone want a swizzle stick?

THE TERM swizzle stick swizzle stick is generally used now to refer to a little plastic paddle used to stir your take-out coffee. But go to an antiques dealer and that is not what you'll be offered. Instead, if they have any, you will be presented with an odd little cylinder, of silver or gold, out of which you can propel something that looks like a tiny c.o.c.ktail umbrella without a covering. Half a dozen silver (or gold) wires will spring free like umbrella ribs, and there you go. is generally used now to refer to a little plastic paddle used to stir your take-out coffee. But go to an antiques dealer and that is not what you'll be offered. Instead, if they have any, you will be presented with an odd little cylinder, of silver or gold, out of which you can propel something that looks like a tiny c.o.c.ktail umbrella without a covering. Half a dozen silver (or gold) wires will spring free like umbrella ribs, and there you go.

But where do you go? And why? And why "swizzle"?

The commonest explanation is that the swizzle stick is to stir the bubbles out of your champagne, which raises the question of why anyone would want to pay extra for wine with bubbles in in it, only to pay even more extra for a device to get the bubbles it, only to pay even more extra for a device to get the bubbles out out. This is one of those unanswerable questions of social history, but we can hazard a guess. The flibbertigibbet who takes a sip of champagne, sneezes, giggles, and says, "Oooh, the bubbles get up my nose!" is a legendary figure still with us, as you can see at any wedding. But there was a time-in the 1930s, the heyday of the swizzle stick-when giggling, sneezing, or performing any of the involuntary pneumatics a.s.sociated with carbonated drinks was simply incompatible with the elegance and poise required of a woman. So (we humbly suggest) the swizzle stick in its retractable form was born, as a preemptive strike against the destabilizing bubble.

But why "swizzle"? The most likely answer there is that the word has been used for punches since the eighteenth century. We might reflect on whether the Englishman's cla.s.sical education in the behavior of the ancient Greeks at their symposia may have predisposed him to the idea of diluting his wine; we will never know. We do know that the earlier word punch punch, first seen in the early seventeenth century, comes from the Hindi panch panch, "five," referring to the five basic ingredients: wine (or brandy), water, lemon juice, sugar, and spice. And we know from personal experience that a gla.s.s of punch or swizzle needs the occasional stir, and stirring it with a spoon is likely to lead to spills and splashes; hence the traditional gla.s.s (or metal) rod, with a rounded end, is often used instead. And there we have it: a stick to stir your swizzle.

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What would go nicely with curry?

PAIRING WINE and food used to be reasonably simple: the local wine and the local food would generally sit in harmony. Retsina with your and food used to be reasonably simple: the local wine and the local food would generally sit in harmony. Retsina with your kokoretsi kokoretsi, burgundy with boeuf bourguignon boeuf bourguignon, a prosecco with fegato alla veneziana fegato alla veneziana, a Bandol rose with your bouillabaisse. But globalization has made the task that much harder. We were rung up not so long ago by a friend who is best described not as an oenophile nor as a gourmet but by that seldom-heard word now, a trencherman trencherman. His work in the shipping industry takes him round the world, but he wanted to speak of a restaurant called, if he remembered correctly, Alberto, Feinstein, and Ho, which was, as far as he could recall, in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Alberto was Italian, Feinstein was originally from Vienna, and Ho was, as far as he knew, Vietnamese, and their cuisine, as well as their business venture, could be described by that portmanteau word for a mult.i.tude of gastronomic peculiarities, fusion fusion.

Fusion, in this case, consisted of sweet-and-sour Wiener schnitzel with risotto, and when he asked what wine they recommended with the dish, the waiter replied, "Beer. Molson. Lots."

Indeed, the task would have been difficult to perform otherwise. A BBC radio producer was celebrated for his ability to construct satirical menus for special occasions, his chef d'oeuvre possibly being "vibrating skate wings lightly dusted with Ajax and served in a helmet," but reality has overtaken him: what would you you choose to accompany a dish of udders cooked in hay, which we ate at one of the most celebrated restaurants in Britain? choose to accompany a dish of udders cooked in hay, which we ate at one of the most celebrated restaurants in Britain?

But of all the challenges of food-and-wine pairings, the most insurmountable must surely be curry. Given that both the generic balti balti and chicken tikka masala have acquired the status of Britain's national dishes, the marketing of wines to accompany curry has become a fierce and valuable contest. Curry traditionally has been drunk with beer ever since the British Raj in the nineteenth century, when so-called India pale ales were brewed specifically to endure the four-thousand-mile voyage to India (you will still see IPA as a category on beer-pump handles in the pub). and chicken tikka masala have acquired the status of Britain's national dishes, the marketing of wines to accompany curry has become a fierce and valuable contest. Curry traditionally has been drunk with beer ever since the British Raj in the nineteenth century, when so-called India pale ales were brewed specifically to endure the four-thousand-mile voyage to India (you will still see IPA as a category on beer-pump handles in the pub).

The problem is compounded by the lack of any tradition of drinking with food in Indian culture: drinking, at least of alcohol, stops when eating starts, and food is usually accompanied by la.s.si la.s.si, a sweet or salty drink made from yogurt-far better at taking the edge off a very hot curry, since only fat (as in yogurt) or sugar is effective at blunting the fire of the capsaicin in chiles.

One enterprising company, Balti Wine, was set up in 2007 specifically to crack this potential treasure chest with five wines, which they offer in various bottle-top colors to go with varying spiciness of food, "the product of extensive taste testing in conjunction with representatives from the Food Technology Department at Manchester University." Blended from Argentinian wines, they include Blue Top Sauvignon-Chardonnay for Mild Cuisine, Orange Top Chenin-Chardonnay for Medium Hot Cuisine, and Green Top Ugni BlancChardonnay for the Hottest Cuisine, the last being described by wine writer Andrew Fraser as "quite unpleasant to drink on its own" but "transformed" with a lamb Karachi curry. Fraser ruefully concludes: "I certainly wish I'd thought of the idea."

Does the gla.s.s you use make any difference?

THIS IS A MATTER of some contention. There are several gla.s.s-makers who produce a series of gla.s.ses with different shapes for each type of wine; they insist that it makes a substantial difference in your tasting experience if you use a gla.s.s of a specific shape for claret, burgundy, chardonnay, riesling, or a dozen others. Many question this notion, saying that it is more of a marketing ploy than an absolute truth. There have been tastings in which gla.s.ses were marked against each other, but the results do not reliably point one way or another. In the circ.u.mstances, one might as well be guided by aesthetics and cost as by function. of some contention. There are several gla.s.s-makers who produce a series of gla.s.ses with different shapes for each type of wine; they insist that it makes a substantial difference in your tasting experience if you use a gla.s.s of a specific shape for claret, burgundy, chardonnay, riesling, or a dozen others. Many question this notion, saying that it is more of a marketing ploy than an absolute truth. There have been tastings in which gla.s.ses were marked against each other, but the results do not reliably point one way or another. In the circ.u.mstances, one might as well be guided by aesthetics and cost as by function.

Professionals at least can agree on the decision of the International Standards Organisation (ISO) to prescribe a standard tasting gla.s.s. This is used by tasters in wine compet.i.tions and also by examining bodies in wine-tasting examinations. The gla.s.s has a volume of 210 ml, but for tasting, only 50 ml of wine is put into it. The gla.s.s curves inward above the level to which it is thus filled, so as to capture 160 ml of aromas. There is also plenty of room for swirling. Fifty ml is adequate for tasting, but not in most cases for drinking, for which rather larger gla.s.ses should ideally be used. Even so, the same principle should be followed: the gla.s.s should be considerably less than half full so as to leave plenty of s.p.a.ce for the aromas and for swirling, and it should curve inward from the level to which it is filled.

Clear gla.s.s is important for the appreciation of wine, because it allows the color to be observed, both at the "core" and at the rim, where surface tension provides a very thin layer rising up the inside of the gla.s.s (the meniscus). The color of the rim should be keenly observed. Generally, one can see the aging of red wine at the rim, which is purple for young wines, garnet to brick for mature ones, and brown for those of great age or distinctly past their peak. Therefore, colored wine gla.s.ses are not good for wine appreciation. Silver goblets, although not colored, are opaque and therefore are not ideal either.

Silver, nevertheless, is used for wine. It does not impart any noticeable taint to wine-hence its use in the necks of carafes and in funnels for wine. Historically, wine was often drunk or tasted from shallow silver dishes with one or two handles. They had the obvious advantage over gla.s.s vessels in that they could be carried around without risk of breakage, and were shallow enough to allow the color of red wine to be a.s.sessed. They would not have been very good for trapping aromas, however. In Scotland, dishes with two handles were known as quaiches (and were used for whisky and brandy as well as for wine); they are still manufactured and given as christening gifts. The French equivalent is the one-handled tastevin, used exclusively for tasting, as the name implies. Antique tastevins can still be found; some have an ancient silver coin providing the base. The tastevin gave its name to a society set up in France in 1934 to promote the drinking of burgundy through unashamed ritual, the Confrererie des Chevaliers du Tastevin, which flourishes to this day.

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China tea, yes-but Chinese wine?

CHINESE WINES do not exactly crowd the shelves of Western wine shops, so it may come as something of a surprise to learn that, as of 2007, China had the world's fifth largest vineyard area (although only one-sixth of the total grape harvest was used for wine) and produced nearly 5 percent of the world's output of wine. Furthermore, the making of wine has a long, if somewhat episodic, history in China. The great poet Li Bai, who lived from 701 to 762, wrote dozens of poems about wine, including "Song of the River": do not exactly crowd the shelves of Western wine shops, so it may come as something of a surprise to learn that, as of 2007, China had the world's fifth largest vineyard area (although only one-sixth of the total grape harvest was used for wine) and produced nearly 5 percent of the world's output of wine. Furthermore, the making of wine has a long, if somewhat episodic, history in China. The great poet Li Bai, who lived from 701 to 762, wrote dozens of poems about wine, including "Song of the River": My boat is of ebony the holes in my flute are golden.

As a plant takes out stains from silk so wine takes sadness from the heart.

When one has good wine, a graceful boat, and a maiden's love, why envy the immortal G.o.ds?

This is not far from Omar Khayyam's celebration of a book of verses, a jug of wine, a loaf of bread, and thou, with Li Bai subst.i.tuting flute music for verses. There is a certain rightness about the similarity, because China owed its acquisition of Vitis vinifera Vitis vinifera, the supreme species of wine-grape vine, to Persia.

Alcoholic beverages, including wine made from native grapes, had long been known in China, but it was only in 128 BC BC that the first seeds of that the first seeds of Vitis vinifera Vitis vinifera arrived in the country. General Chang Chien was sent on an expedition to Bactria, and on his return to the Chinese court, he presented vine seeds to Emperor Han Wu Dia (Han Dynasty). They came from Fergana, the country east of Samarkand, which is now Uzbekistan but was then part of Persia. (In fact, the Chinese-and j.a.panese-word for grape is arrived in the country. General Chang Chien was sent on an expedition to Bactria, and on his return to the Chinese court, he presented vine seeds to Emperor Han Wu Dia (Han Dynasty). They came from Fergana, the country east of Samarkand, which is now Uzbekistan but was then part of Persia. (In fact, the Chinese-and j.a.panese-word for grape is budo budo, while the late Persian word was buda buda.) The emperor had vines planted around the imperial palaces in Xinjiang and Shanxi, and three centuries later wine was so valuable that it was used as a diplomatic tool-perhaps much as the Austrian emperors were later to use Tokaji. Over the succeeding centuries, the planting of vines became more widespread and-depending on the level of tax-wine made from grapes, as opposed to that made from cereals, increased in popularity among the lower social cla.s.ses.

Genghis Khan's grandson, Kublai Khan, who lived from 1216 to 1294, completed the conquest of China begun by his grandfather and founded the Yuan Dynasty. During his rule, the court chose grape wine (putao jiu) for the ceremony when worshipping their ancestors, while in 1291, a wine cellar was built in one of the imperial palaces. Marco Polo, in his description of his travels in the thirteenth century, wrote that "in Shanxi province grew many excellent vines, supplying a great deal of wine, and in all Cathay this is the only place where wine is produced. It is carried hence all over the country." For reasons n.o.body really knows, wine fell from favor during the Ming Dynasty (13681644). One possible explanation was that the first Ming emperor was born in the south of China, where the weather is not conducive to the growing of grapes, and thus lacked the wine culture present in the north. As well, the duty on grape wine was raised, making it less affordable for the less wealthy.

With the coming of the Ching (or Qing) Dynasty in 1644, the popularity of wine gradually recovered, doubtless helped by the enduring belief that it had health-giving properties. Emperor K'an-hi, who ruled at the same time as Louis XIV, experimented by planting vines in different parts of the country, which confirmed that they flourished in the north but not in the subtropical south. With the nineteenth century's influx of missionaries and invaders, however, foreign influence on the growing of grapes and the making of wine grew. In the mid-nineteenth century, Jesuit missionaries encouraged the planting of vineyards specifically to make wine for use during the celebration of the sacraments. In the late nineteenth century, French Catholic missionaries planted vineyards and made wine. During the German and j.a.panese occupations from the late nineteenth and into the early twentieth centuries, a winery was established by the Germans and another by the j.a.panese. Most important, however, was the establishing of the first modern Chinese winery. Chang Bi Shi, referred to variously as an overseas Chinese merchant or as an officer in the Qing government, returned to China in 1892 and set up the Chang Yu winery in Yantai, reportedly employing the Austrian consul as winemaker. He also introduced 150 varieties of V. vinifera V. vinifera from Europe, including Welschriesling, which remains of importance for the wine industry today. from Europe, including Welschriesling, which remains of importance for the wine industry today.

It might have been thought that wine would have been a victim of the Communist victory in 1949, but this was not the case. Indeed, the government expanded the wineries: they preferred that the people drink wine rather than spirits, and they and successive governments wanted to reserve rice for food rather than allow it to be used to make rice wine. However, for reasons of economy, the grape wine was blended with water, other fruit juices, coloring, and fermented cereals, as a result of which people became confused as to what wine really was. Nowadays, it is necessary to specify grape wine.

After 1979, foreign investors were allowed to establish a modern wine industry. Substantial investment was made by a number of Western distilleries, who imported vinification equipment, V. vinifera V. vinifera vine cuttings, and the technical expertise needed to make the wines, and Western-style wines were produced. In the 1990s, a wine boom was sparked off when officials followed the lead of Western countries in recommending the moderate use of red wine to reduce the risk of heart disease. As a result, thousands of cases were imported and rushed onto the market, tankers of bulk wine arrived to be bottled locally, and small wineries sprang up all over China. By the mid-2000s, a number of large chateau-style wineries had been established. vine cuttings, and the technical expertise needed to make the wines, and Western-style wines were produced. In the 1990s, a wine boom was sparked off when officials followed the lead of Western countries in recommending the moderate use of red wine to reduce the risk of heart disease. As a result, thousands of cases were imported and rushed onto the market, tankers of bulk wine arrived to be bottled locally, and small wineries sprang up all over China. By the mid-2000s, a number of large chateau-style wineries had been established.

Wine, especially champagne, is now wildly fashionable, but at the summit are the Bordeaux grands crus grands crus, including the most expensive wines of the Right Bank. When the elites first came into contact with red wines, most found them too bitter to drink with pleasure. However, status demanded that first-growth Bordeaux be drunk, so Sprite would be added to soften and round out the wine. Horror stories abounded of customers mixing Chateau Petrus and c.o.ke. True connoisseurs have now emerged, but so have collectors, with the result that they are among those most responsible for driving up the prices of the first growths, which now are bought but seldom drunk. With continuing economic growth and growing awareness of wine, however, a true wine-drinking culture will almost certainly develop, which should encourage the export to China of wines from all over the world. By then, the addition of c.o.ke will undoubtedly no longer be necessary.

Do they really make wine from bees?

THIS IS A question that, while it has not exactly haunted us since someone first mentioned "bee wine," occasionally and without warning springs worryingly to mind. After all, there's hardly a vegetable on the planet that hasn't been made into wine, so ... can you ferment an animal? If so, we can be sure that someone has done it. question that, while it has not exactly haunted us since someone first mentioned "bee wine," occasionally and without warning springs worryingly to mind. After all, there's hardly a vegetable on the planet that hasn't been made into wine, so ... can you ferment an animal? If so, we can be sure that someone has done it.

But books are not only a (hopefully) diverting way for the reader to while away an hour or two; they also give pleasure to the authors, giving them an excuse to look into things that otherwise might have gone unresolved.

We confess our initial thought was that yes, there probably was bee wine, and yes, it probably was made from bees in some way; if not, it likely was an epithet for mead.

We were mostly wrong. Yes, there is bee wine, but it has nothing to do with bees and everything to do with the yeast, which is introduced into the must in the form of a yeast-and-sugar lump that rises and falls with the fermentation process, b.u.mping around like a bee in a bottle.

On balance, we're relieved. On balance too, though, we wish we hadn't found out about the animal wines of Indochina: Seahorse wine, water-snake wine, King Cobra wine, Many Snakes wine, and, indeed, Bamboo Bee Wine. Each bottle has the animal inside it. Of course, it's not actually wine wine wine, and the Bamboo Bee isn't actually a wine, and the Bamboo Bee isn't actually a bee bee bee, but all the same ... all the same ... bee, but all the same ... all the same ...

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Is there wine in Paradise?

IT'S A GOOD question, and one that has received little attention from the wine-drinking believers in an afterlife, who just sort of question, and one that has received little attention from the wine-drinking believers in an afterlife, who just sort of a.s.sume a.s.sume that Paradise will be like life on earth, only better. Of that Paradise will be like life on earth, only better. Of course course there'll be wine in Paradise. How could it possibly be otherwise? there'll be wine in Paradise. How could it possibly be otherwise?

But for the abstemious faiths, it is a problem. Muslims, in particular, have been exercised over the centuries by non-Muslims saying things like "Oh, go on, just have one gla.s.s-after all, there'll be wine in Paradise."

Commentators on the Qur'an have come up with answers to such silliness, of course, and our favorite refers to Hadith 589, narrated by Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "Allah said, 'I have prepared for My righteous slaves (such excellent things) as no eye has ever seen, nor an ear has ever heard nor a human heart can ever think of.'"

So as we can see paradise is something that is not of this world. So when the Qur'an talks about rivers of honey that does not mean that it is the same kind of honey that we have in this world. Similarly, when the Qur'an talks about rivers of wine in paradise that does not mean that it is the same kind of wine that we have here on earth that makes you get drunk and do stupid things and gives you a hangover the next morning. No, not at all. G.o.d is just using these terms in order for us to try to imagine what this paradise is kind of like. So the wine of paradise is nothing like the wine of this world.

Theology is a wonderful thing. Perhaps the wine of Paradise, which is not like the wine of this world, bears some relation to the drunkenness of Purim, which is not like the drunkenness of this world. Such speculations are outside our qualifications. All we can do is hope that it all turns out for the best ...

When is wine not wine?

THE FIGURE OF speech that dominates this book is the speech that dominates this book is the erotema erotema, the official word for what we usually call a "rhetorical question."

We give you this bit of information as a sort of consolation prize because-unlike all the other questions, which we go on to answer-we really don't know the answer to this one.