February 18: Global Drink Wine Day

According to the ancient writer Pausanias, “humans are as much raised up by wine,… as any bird is by its wings”. This rather rosy view on wine and its effects, was taken from Dionysos himself (Bacchus in latin). Wine was for him what duct tape is today: it solved everything. The god fought some battles in his lifetime, and one of his favourite tricks was to change a river in wine, and launch an attack, when the enemy was out cold. And when his beloved companion Hymenaios got fatally wounded, it was with wine that he brought him back to life. Dionysos would travel in the company of Methe, goddess of drunkenness. Yes, they had one, and today, her name is recognisable in even more addictive substances. Methe’s son, Botrys, is well known in vineyards, as the fungus Botrytis, that creates delicately sweet wines. At every party, the ancients would chant: “Let us sing of Bacchus… Thanks to him, drunkenness is brought forth, grace is born, pain takes rest and trouble goes to sleep.” Hmm, at least the grace-part is debatable.