Myths and Metaphors of Wine


Writing, like the cultivation of vines and production of wine, is always a story about transformation. The fermentation process that gives us wine from grapes (the alchemy going on in a bottle of wine as it matures over time) offers us some powerful metaphors about beauty and mystery.

Is there a wine goddess or god in every bottle? Is there some kind of "cellar elf" or "wine ferry" hovering over every winery? Greek myth-makers conjured up the figure of Dionysis. The Romans gave us Bacchus. I guess we might call these gods of wine the Greco-Roman Santa Claus.


Like language itself, wine is not a static thing. Wine (and language) are living things. The transformative features of wine (like language) give it flavor, complexity, and character. There is magic in the bottle.  If it's not changing, it's not wine!


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