By Gerd Hirschmann
updated
Wed, Nov 30, 2011 07:21 AM
"He who drinks wine sleeps well. He who sleeps well cannot sin.
He who does not sin goes to heaven." An Old Monk's Prayer
says.
Wine and religion are inexorably intertwined. Christians know
the story of the marriage feast of Cana, where Jesus changed water
into wine, and that Jesus used wine in the last supper - a choice
that is remembered at every celebration of mass. What may be less
known is that wine is mentioned 155 times in the Old Testament and
10 times in the New Testament.
In the Exodus we can find the Hebrews regretting having to
leave their vineyards in Egypt, but all was well - the Promised
Land they found in the Plain of Sharon was green with vines and
before long Palestine was covered in vineyards. Given this close
relationship with the vine and its fruit, it's no surprise that by
the time of Jesus, wine was an integral part of life.
With the fall of the Roman Empire came Europe's Dark Ages,
and the role of the monks and the monasteries became crucial in
preserving the remnants of classical civilization as well as
keeping viticulture alive. As Christianity spread across Europe so
did the monasteries and with them the vineyards. As early as the
1100s the Cistercians were making wine at 'Clos de Vougeot' in
Burgundy.
The Christian Crusaders who fought against the Saracens
brought back to Europe the Muscat grape, which today is widely
grown for wine, raisins and table grapes. It ranges in color from
white to almost black and has a pronounced sweet floral aroma. The
number of varieties of Muscat suggests it is a very old if not the
oldest domesticated grape variety.
But the crusaders also learned a new trick from the Saracens:
the art of distilling. The word 'alcohol' dates from this; in
Arabic it is al-kuhl (pronounced: 'al-cool')
Perhaps the most notable contribution of the monks to the art
of vinification is that of Dom Perignon, the cellar-master monk
credited with the discovery of Champagne as we now know it.
But after close to a thousand years of dominating wine production,
the monasteries began to lose out. The first assault was by Henry
VIII of England who plundered the monasteries of their wealth and
took control of their assets. After the French Revolution the
vineyards were taken from the nobles and the Church to be
redistributed among the people. Not long afterwards, Napoleon did
the same in Germany and soon politicians and statesmen were taking
over the vineyards. Talleyrand, the French priest turned
revolutionary, took over Chateau Haut-Brion and Metternich, the
Austrian politician and noted diplomat of the time, took over
Schloss Johannisberg.
Since then, wine has become secularized and though still used
in church, today's winemakers need not be particularly
religious.
Tagged:
Wine Experiments, Wine
