Wine: Medical and Domestic Etiquette

The Babylonians, Persians, and Jews as well as the Greeks, Romans and Gauls, made wine from grapes. The Bible frequently refers to wine made from grapes for ceremonials and domestic use and advises, “Take a little wine for your stomach’s sake and thine infirmities.” The ancient Britons made wine by diluting honey with water and fermenting the mixture, this they called Mead and it was a very potent alcoholic beverage. 

From the earliest traditions and recorded history of mankind, in far flung sections of the earth, fermented wines have been used in religious ceremonies, festivals, as beverage in the home, the wine shops and as a vehicle for the administration of medical agents; and these uses persist to the present time. The juice of grapes, fruits, berries, some vegetables, grains, honey and the milk of animals have by the process of fermentation been converted into wine and to enumerate the kinds, varieties and qualities of these products would fill quite a book. 

The Egyptians, four to five thousand years ago, made wine and a kind of beer from grain. The Babylonians, Persians, and Jews as well as the Greeks, Romans and Gauls, made wine from grapes. The Bible frequently refers to wine made from grapes for ceremonials and domestic use and advises, “Take a little wine for your stomach’s sake and thine infirmities.” The ancient Britons made wine by diluting honey with water and fermenting the mixture, this they called Mead and it was a very potent alcoholic beverage. The bulk of wine made by the ancients was crude and of very inferior quality, except in alcoholic strength, the grapes being crushed by the unclean feet of slaves, also their facilities for clarifying, storing and preserving their wine was negligible, skins of animals and pottery jugs being freely used. The Bible mentions “Treading the wine press.” 

It was the custom in those days at feasts to eat the best food and drink the choicest wines first, then when the revelers were sated with food and elated with wine they would continue the Saturnalia by eating and drinking any old thing, no doubt to complete unconsciousness. The Bible is authority for the foregoing observation for when the supply of wine was exhausted at the wedding feast in Cana. Jesus by a miracle, converted water into wine and some of the guests complained that the best wine had been saved to the last, which to them was a grave error of etiquette. 

Bacchus the god of wine is famed in song and story and held a high place in the esteem of many ancient peoples. The ancients also recognized the advantages and disadvantages of the use of wine, for even in those days they had rabid prohibitionists, for in another passage in the Bible it says “Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, at the last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder”. No doubt having reference to the excessive consumption of the crude wine in use at that time. The men of those days must have been vigorous, hardy souls and those who lived were truly survivors of the fittest. 

To make good wine requires knowledge, skill, adequate facilities for crushing, fermenting, clarifying, storing, aging, and distribution; especially when dry or naturally fermented wines are considered. Wine for medical and domestic use should be at least three years old, as it is at its best from three to seven years of age, after which time no matter how it is kept it is deteriorating, developing acids and aldehydes that spoil its protection. We moderns have both red and white wines of various qualities, depending upon the sugar content (standards and alcoholic strengths, of the grapes, which in turn is influenced by soil, moisture, sunshine, seasonal variations as well as by localities, and varieties of grapes all of which influence the finished product. 

Champagne, the aristocrat of all wine, and sparkling burgundy must not be overlooked as they fill a definite place in the category of wines. Little need be said about their use at table but champagne deserves mention for its medical properties. When a person is low in spirits and especially the morning after a night before, a glass of champagne (frappe) will clear the cobwebs from the brain, steady the nerves, settle the stomach and remove that dark brown taste so familiar to those who over eat and drink at the festive board. Following a surgical operation where an anesthetic has been given, there is nothing like small doses of champagne frequently repeated to bring order out of chaos and help the patient to recover. 

For a rundown condition with a jaded appetite where a good boost is needed, the sparkling wines can be depended on to play an important role. Sweet or fortified wines are extensively used, but it is the opinion of the author from years of observation that dry wines are superior for medical and domestic use. Good wine contains water, vegetable matter, minerals, including iron, vitamins, acids, esters, and alcohol. When perfectly clarified it should be free from sediment, have a perfect bouquet and flavor. 

Before wine is bottled it should be at least three years old and after corking should be stored, cork down, in a dark place with an even cool temperature, otherwise it will spoil. Wine keeps best when stored underground. Taken in moderation with food, wine is refrigerant, stimulant, tonic, nutritive, it improves appetite, aids digestion, assimilation and elimination. It helps build up the blood, increasing its iron and hemoglobin, in simple anemias and aids to bodily well being. If we Americans would use wine with our noon and evening meals or even with our heartiest meal once daily, it would promote good health, add enjoyment to our food as well as years to our lives, besides being conducive to sobriety. A good way to enjoy wine with meals is to dilute it one-half with plain water, although some prefer it as nature made it, full of strength. Red wine is a better tonic and builder than white wine, as it is richer in organic iron. 

To serve wine correctly so as to be able to appreciate its aroma and delicate flavor, it should be chilled and not ruined with cracked ice in the glass or mixed with carbonated water. To properly appreciate wine, it should first be held up to the light to observe its clearness and color, then deliberately smelled to get its fine aroma, or bouquet, in this way the olfactory nerves send a reflex impulse to the organs of taste and digestion stimulating them to action and then when the wine is slowly sipped its wonderful qualities are brought out and realized. 

White wine goes well with salads, fish, entrees and some fowl, while red wines are appropriate for red meats, heavy greasy foods and conglomerate mixtures. From one glass to one pint per day should be a fair average to be consumed without producing alcoholism, although some may prefer a little more, but wine like all other good things can be overdone. To those who do not care to buy more expensive bottled wines, the art of bottling ones own wine is an economical way to provide good wine for the table. In California some of the finest wines in the world are produced. – By W.C. Shipley, MD, for the Healdsburg Tribune, Enterprise and Scimitar, 1939

 🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia