Wine tastes God

Wine, a feel-good drink that brings me closer to my divinity? Count me in.

Since antiquity many have reveled in wines ability to subdue and enchant all lifeforms.

Pierre Puopon, a dedicated writer and drinker of wine fantastically puts the fully immersed experience of taste,

"Tasting is a way of life. We taste everything that comes into contact with our senses, be it a work of art, the present moment, the reality of existence; objects, people, the arts, love, life."

The infinite amounts of combinations, flavor profiles coincides with the unique palate of each individual. What may taste really funky to you might make someone else explode with gusto. Our tongue's papillae varies from person to person, we evolved (or were created) with the gift of millions of receptor cells. These buds receive information and provide us with the experiences we associate with wine. In the second chapter of the Book of Genesis, God creates a garden of wonders and the fruit of the trees is a gift bestowed to us by the Creator. The Song of songs, the Songs of Solomon boast and cherish the world through our senses:

"Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth--for thy love is better than wine"

Jesus was known to attend parties where he found embrace feasts as spaces opportune for reviving the human spirit, fostering spiritual development and brethren-ship.

The human senses, especially taste, became a metaphor for experiencing the divine.

Prophet Ezekiel even saw God delivering His message through food. He had visions of God telling him to eat a scroll, which was described as bitter but sweet as honey.

Eating goes further than mere consumption, it nourishes us from within like an honest hug, heals and honors our temple (body) with connection to invisible spiritual elements.

Eating and drinking are so crucial in the bibles explanation of our connection to God.

The grape woos those who experience it.

"But I say to you that I shall not drink again from this fruit of the vine until the day in which I shall drink it with you new in the Kingdom of my Father." Matthew 26:29

It is not in vain that Jesus' first miracle was transmuting water into wine. Fruit of the Earth is God's abundance and eternal love for his people. In The Spirituality of Wine, Kreglinger posits that the figurative language and rhetoric of viticulture [and gastronomy] forces us to see God as a vintner who wants his vines and vineyards to flourish and be abundant and lively. If this all seems too poetic and mystical, I hope you at least leave with a newfound appreciation for your senses, especially taste.

References:

The Bible

“10.” The Spirituality of Wine, by Gisela H. Kreglinger, Eerdamns, 2016.