wines & vines: historical perspective

by David Harney

Wine has played an important role throughout human history. You can find references to it in the earliest of man’s writings. But are there any references to wine’s healthful benefits in these writings? Or, conversely, are there warnings about possible deleterious effects? I could find only a few negative quotes, but the preponderance of positive attributions surprised me. The following are quotes from the famous and not so famous about the relationship between wine and health. They may prove nothing, but then again…

“Wine is the head of all medicines ...where wine is lacking, drugs are necessary.” (Babylonian Talmud)

“I have enjoyed great health at a great age because every day since I can remember, I have consumed a bottle of wine - except when I have not felt well. Then I have consumed two bottles.” (Bishop of Seville)

“Penicillin cures, but wine makes people happy.” (Sir Alexander Fleming)

“If penicillin can cure those that are ill, Spanish sherry can bring the dead back to life.” (Alexander Fleming)

“Wine from long habit has become an indispensable for my health.” (Thomas Jefferson)

“Wine is the most healthful and hygienic of beverages.” (Louis Pasteur)

“Wine refreshes the stomach, sharpens the appetite, blunts care and sadness, and conduces to slumber.” (Pliny the Elder)

“Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.” (I Timothy 5:23)

“There is evil in every berry of grape.” (Koran)

”A hard drinker, being at table, was offered grapes at dessert. ’Thank you,’ said he, pushing the dish away from him, ’but I am not in the habit of taking my wine in pills.’” (Brillat-Savarin)

DID YOU KNOW? In 2004, 278 million cases of wine were sold in the U.S., the most ever. Red wine sales alone are up 124% since 1991. And here’s even more surprising news: the U.S. will be the world’s top consumer of wine by 2008, passing France, according to a new study for the Vinexpo wine fair in Bordeaux. In that year, Americans will drink 28% more wine than they did in 2003; the French, 7.4% less. With wine consumption down nearly 40% since 1970, France will also cede its top spot in glasses per capita to Italy.