Wine is a learned taste. <> Wine Color. <> Price vs Quality.
Letting wine breathe? <> Sulfites in wine. <> Wine serving and storage temperatures.
Wine, The Bible and a Mormon. <> The invention of champagne. <> Danny's Favorite Wines.

Wine, The Bible and a Mormon.

I know a good amount about wine, I've read a few things in the bible and I know very little about the Mormons. But, I had a conversation with a Mormon. Actually, there were two of them at the front door but anyway, the subject of wine came up.

Under the impression that they, because of religious belief, were not allowed to drink wine, I asked if there was a reason for this. His answer had two parts to it but I'll just talk about one of those parts. He said that the wine of today was stronger (had more alcohol) than the wine of biblical times and thereby an unhealthy thing to drink. Wine today is available with higher levels of alcohol but, if you asked me, these "wines" aren't real wines by definition. These fake wines are made by either taking real wine and adding grain alcohol to it or by adding grain alcohol to juice. These types of wines are called fortified wines are aren't worth the gunpowder it would take to blow them up.

Real wine is one step along a natural process that grape juice goes through. If left to itself, juice from a grape will change from juice to wine and then to vinegar. Wine is easily made. It happens by itself. Keeping it wine and preventing it from turning to vinegar however, is another thing all together. That's difficult. Natural or "real" wine occurs through the fermentation of grape juice. Juice becoming wine will automatically stop the fermentation when the alcohol level reaches around eleven to thirteen and a half percent alcohol. It is impossible for wine to be fermented to have a greater alcohol content than this. The laws of nature that cause grape juice to become wine are at least as old as mankind and have not changed over the last few thousand years.

[1 Timothy 5:23 Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities.] Wine can be a remedy for illness or a way to prevent illness.

[Ephesians 5:18a And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess...] Drinking wine is not bad. Drinking too much wine and getting drunk is bad. The word of the day is "moderation".

[Titus 1:7 For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;] "Not given to wine" means not addicted to wine. It is a good quality to have that you not become addicted to wine or any other form of alcohol. Now that I think about it, some have even said that the wine in the bible didn't have alcohol in it. That's silly, it says right there not to get addicted to it. How could you get addicted to it if it didn't have alcohol in it? Duh? Furthermore, if you have ever actually been addicted to alcohol at any time in your life, you should never again drink alcoholic beverages. Re-addiction is almost guaranteed. For that matter, addiction to anything is bad.

Wine also has certain health benefits. Red wine helps to reduce your cholesterol level and it also helps your body metabolize red meats. That's another reason why hearty wines such as a Cabernet Sauvignon should be served to accompany steak dinners. I'm fully in favor of healthy products. Real wine, if utilized properly, can be a very healthy thing. Fortified wines suck and you shouldn't drink them.