Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Wino!

The French have a number of traditional proverbs classifying wine by the effect they have on the drinker. These seem to be based, in part, on the Talmudic parable of Noah's vineyard, where Satan spied Noah planting his vines and offered to help. Satan slaughtered a lamb, a lion, a monkey and a pig, and poured their blood over the vine. Satan's message was that with one glass of wine man was like a lamb, gentle and mild; with two glasses he becomes like a lion, full of pride; with three glasses he becomes like a monkey, chattering and profane; and when drunk, man becomes like a pig, wallowing in his own shame.

Wine that makes you:
Stupid................vin d'ane
Maudlin, tearful......vin de cerf
Quarrelsome...........vin de lion
Talkative.............vin de pie
Crafty................vin de renard
Rude, troublesome.....vin de singe
Sick..................vin de pore


SUPERNACULAR: adj. A description of wine so superlative that it is drunk to the very last drop--proved by upturning the empty glass upon one's fingernail and ensuring that not a single drop forms thereon.


"All-or nearly all-Red wine is better for having just one or two drops of water poured into the first glass only. Why this should be I do not know, but so it is. It introduces it. This admirable and little known custom is called 'Baptizing' wine."
-Hilaire Beloc, Advice, c.1950


All From: Schott's Food & Drink Miscellany by Ben Schott


A votre sante!



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